Zoho’s Arattai sees 100x surge in sign-ups, races to expand capacity

Zoho

Indian Software-as-a-Service provider Zoho’s homegrown messaging app Arattai has witnessed an unprecedented surge in user adoption, with daily sign-ups soaring from around 3,000 to 3.5 lakh in just three days, a 100x jump.

Founder and Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu said in a post on X that the sudden spike has forced the company to add infrastructure “on an emergency basis” to handle another potential 100x surge.

“We had planned a big release by November with new features, capacity expansion and a marketing push. But then it suddenly went vertical,” Vembu wrote on X, adding that Zoho’s engineering teams are working round the clock to fix issues arising from the surge.

Arattai, which means “chat” in Tamil, was launched in 2021 as a secure alternative to WhatsApp.

Arattai raced to the top spot in app stores on September 29, surpassing WhatsApp, fuelled by endorsements from Union ministers, who described it as “free, easy-to-use, secure and safe.”

The company took to X announcing, “We’re officially #1 in Social Networking on the App Store!” The milestone caps off a week of rising buzz around the app, fuelled by endorsements, memes, and a wave of patriotic downloads," it said.
While the surge has brought visibility, it has also exposed some issues such as delayed OTPs and app lags, with users flagging the absence of end-to-end encryption for text messages.

Zoho has said the feature is in the works.

"As we add a lot more infrastructure, we are also fine tuning and updating the code to fix issues as they arise. We have all-hands-on-deck working flat out," Vembu wrote.

The unexpected popularity has reignited debate on whether Indian-made platforms can challenge global incumbents.
Vembu said that such long-term bets are possible only because Zoho remains privately held, free from quarterly market pressures.