Arattai the Made-in-India instant messaging app, is giving stiff competition to WhatsApp. The app developed by Zoho Inc is comfortably positioned at the number 1 position on the Apple app store. Even in the Android Play store, Arattai is slowly climbing the rankings in the social networking category.
Zoho CEO also took to ‘X’ to thank users for increasing the App traffic by 100X in a very short span of time. Moreover Arattai’s total download numbers are also rapidly increasing with each passing day. Although Arattai launched silently back in 2021 by Zoho it is now gaining popularity.
Therefore the question arises why the sudden surge in popularity of Arattai. Well there are several reasons behind it’s popularity one being the current climate with rising concerns about data privacy, global surveillance, and “tech sovereignty”. Arattai’s positioning as a “spyware‑free, made‑in‑India” messenger has resonated with Indians.
However the app gained momentum when India’s Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, publicly urged citizens to favour local digital platforms, citing Arattai among the recommended apps. Simultaneously, high‑profile tech voices such as Vivek Wadhwa tried it out and praised its polish even calling it “India’s WhatsApp killer” in messaging feel.
Since we have explained why is Arattai gaining popularity, now let’s delve deeper into what features does it offer over it’s rivals like WhatsApp.
Pocket:
This personal cloud storage feature allows users to save messages, media, and notes for future reference, accessible across multiple devices. Unlike WhatsApp, which often requires users to create a personal group to store important messages, Pocket simplifies the process and keeps content organised.
No Forced AI:
While WhatsApp recently integrated Meta AI, many users found it distracting and intrusive. Arattai keeps the experience clean by not imposing any AI functionality on its users.
Meetings:
Arattai allows users to create, join, or schedule meetings directly within the app, removing the need for additional platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet. The Meetings option is conveniently located on the bottom dock, making it easily accessible.
Mentions Tab:
Inspired by Slack, this feature ensures that whenever a user is mentioned in a group chat, it is listed in a dedicated tab. This prevents important notifications from getting lost among other messages.
Ad-Free Experience:
Arattai provides an ad-free interface, storing all user data in Indian data centres and avoiding commercial exploitation. While voice and video calls are end-to-end encrypted, text messages are not yet fully encrypted, unlike WhatsApp’s complete encryption model.