Arattai
Messaging service
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arattai Messenger (or simply Arattai) is an encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice calls, and video calls, developed by Zoho Corporation. The name Arattai means "chat" or "conversation" in Tamil. The app was soft-launched in January 2021.[1] The app saw a sharp surge in downloads in September 2025, partially fueled by endorsements from Indian government officials.[2][3][4] However, the app dropped from the top rankings in October 2025.
| Arattai | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Developer | Zoho Corporation | ||||
| Initial release | January 2021 | ||||
| Stable release(s) | |||||
| |||||
| Operating system | |||||
| Type | |||||
| Website | www | ||||
History
Arattai was initially tested internally among Zoho employees before being released publicly in early 2021.[5] The launch coincided with a surge in interest for privacy-focused and messaging services, triggered by concerns over WhatsApp’s updated terms of service.[6]
In September 2025, Arattai experienced a major surge in adoption, with daily sign-ups reportedly increasing 100-fold, from around 3,000 to more than 350,000 in three days.[7] The growth temporarily strained Zoho's infrastructure, prompting rapid scaling of servers and capacity expansion.[8] During the same period, the app reached the top position in Apple's App Store charts for the "Social Networking" category in India.[9] The app dropped from the top ranking in late October 2025.[10]
Reception
At launch, Arattai was positioned as a potential domestic rival to WhatsApp in India, but analysts noted that it faced challenges with encryption, ecosystem, and network effect.[6] Critics pointed to occasional sync delays.[11][12]