Launched in 2021, why Zoho’s Arattai is gaining sudden popularity after 4 years

Zoho

What began as a small side project in 2021 is suddenly making waves in India. Zoho’s messaging app, Arattai, has seen an incredible jump in popularity, grabbing people’s attention almost overnight.

Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, said that in just three days, the app’s traffic shot up 100 times. Daily new sign-ups went from around 3,000 to 350,000. The name “Arattai” comes from Tamil and means casual chat, perfect for an app built to help people stay connected.

Launched quietly at first, Arattai lets users chat one-on-one or in groups, share texts, pictures, and videos, and make audio and video calls. While calls are end-to-end encrypted, chat messages don’t yet have the same level of privacy.

The app works on multiple devices, including desktops and Android TVs, and has features like stories, broadcast channels, and tools for creators, influencers, and businesses.

Vembu said this sudden surge came sooner than expected, even before a major update planned for November, which was supposed to add new features, expand capacity, and kick off a marketing push. “It felt hopelessly foolish at the time,” he said, recalling how even Zoho employees doubted whether Arattai would take off.

Government support seems to have played a role too. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw encouraged people to use domestic digital platforms, while Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan praised Arattai as “secure, user-friendly, and completely free” on social media. Their backing, combined with viral chatter online, helped the app climb to the top of India’s app store charts.

Even with this surge, WhatsApp is still deeply rooted in India, with over 500 million users relying on it daily. Experts warn that Arattai’s long-term success will depend on how well it can handle heavy traffic, scale up infrastructure, and improve chat privacy with end-to-end encryption.

Still, the sudden popularity is a big moment for the homegrown app. What once seemed like a small experiment is now becoming a serious player in India’s digital messaging world—a reminder that even an idea once seen as “hopelessly foolish” can suddenly capture the nation’s imagination.