Zoho’s Arattai messaging app loses steam, drops out of top 100 apps on Android and iOS in India

The messaging app, which means "casual talk" or "chit-chat" in Tamil, was launched by Zoho in 2021 amid a furore over WhatsApp's privacy policy changes that had led many people to seek alternative messaging apps. It is part of the Chennai-based software firm’s consumer-focused portfolio, which also includes the web browser Ulaa. Zoho did not respond to Moneycontrol’s queries till the time of publication.

Is there a drop in downloads as of November 4?

Moneycontrol had reported in September that Arattai was witnessing renewed interest among consumers in the country.

Arattai’s downloads soared to 13.8 million in October 2025, a sharp jump from 2.63 million in September. However, the surge proved short-lived, downloads plummeted to just 195,519 in November (as of November 4), indicating fading interest after the initial buzz, according to industry data sourced by Moneycontrol.

Monthly active users (MAUs) also reflect this trend. Arattai’s MAUs rose from 1.17 million in September to 4.35 million in October, before dipping slightly to 4.09 million in November.

The initial surge came amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for people to adopt 'swadeshi' products in their daily lives.

In the past few months, several union ministers including Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal have also endorsed Arattai and Zoho's range of productivity products.

Zoho notes that privacy is one of the key selling points of Arattai. All data is stored in India, and voice and video calls are currently end-to-end encrypted, meaning only the sender and receiver can access call content.

Messages are not currently end-to-end encrypted, although Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu told Moneycontrol in an October interview that the company plans to roll out the feature in the next few weeks. People can currently use the ‘secret chat’ feature for end-to-end message encryption.

WhatsApp already offers end-to-end encryption for all personal messages, calls, photos, and videos.

Also Read: MC Interview: There is a Swadeshi movement underway, India must be self-reliant in tech and trade on equal terms, says Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu

In an earlier interview with Moneycontrol, Zoho CEO Manu Vembu had said the team had stabilised the platform after the initial surge and was focusing on improving retention and rolling out new updates to enhance user experience.

“Like any product, we ensured the technology is hosted in India for data sovereignty and other compliance requirements,” said Vembu.

“Even before this recent surge, Arattai was getting around 3,000 sign-ups per day. We were preparing for a broader launch in November, but the recent attention caused a sudden spike, almost 100x our usual scale.”

Also Read: MC Interview | Zoho CEO Mani Vembu: “We want to make Arattai a super app – always believed this is something India needs"

He said the rapid growth created some initial challenges, particularly on the infrastructure side, because scaling servers cannot match such sudden demand.

“The first few days were difficult, but we’ve since brought things under control. While this is just the beginning, we’re closely monitoring adoption and retention, and the early signs are encouraging. Active users, meetings, and voice calls are all growing daily, which shows good retention. That’s our focus, high retention drives word-of-mouth growth.”

He added that the team is working on the next set of updates to ensure the app continues to deliver more value to users.

Can Arattai win over WhatsApp’s dominance?

That said, challenging WhatsApp’s network effects will be an uphill task, given that it has become synonymous with instant messaging in India and is increasingly used by small businesses that run their entire operations on the app, as reported by Moneycontrol earlier.

WhatsApp’s business platform is also gaining significant traction among enterprises as well as state and central government agencies.

Over the years, several local and international companies have attempted it but have not succeeded in making a dent in WhatsApp's popularity in the country.

Hike, started by Bharti Airtel scion Kavin Bharti Mittal in 2012, was among the most prominent attempts. The app initially gained immense traction, amassing 100 million users, but was eventually shut down in January 2021.

(With inputs from Tushar Goenka)