Arattai: India’s New Viral Messaging App
Arattai, India’s homegrown chat app by Zoho, has become a national hit. Its rise reflects a growing demand for secure, Indian-made technology.
A new Indian messaging app, Arattai, has become a viral hit, quickly topping download charts in India and overtaking big names like ChatGPT and Gemini. Created by Zoho, Arattai is more than just a chat app it represents a movement toward Indian-made, privacy-focused technology.
Zoho’s founder, Sridhar Vembu, comes from Tamil Nadu. After graduating from IIT Madras and earning a PhD from Princeton, he returned to India to focus on rural development and build self-reliant tech products. Under his leadership, Zoho has grown without heavy outside investment, making Arattai a symbol of independence and trust.
The name Arattai means “chat” in Tamil. The app includes text, voice, and video messaging, group chats, file sharing, and even special features like “Meetings” for scheduling video calls and “Pocket” a private self-chat space to save notes and reminders. It’s lightweight, ad-free, and claims to keep user data stored securely in India.
In just a few days, Arattai jumped from rank #117 to #1 on the Google Play Store. However, it still faces challenges; text encryption is limited to “Secret Chat” mode for now, and users have reported OTP delays and sync issues. Zoho says full end-to-end encryption is coming soon.
Arattai’s success shows that people in India are ready to trust local technology. If Zoho continues improving it, Arattai could become a major rival to WhatsApp and other global messaging apps.
