Can a domestically developed messaging platform challenge WhatsApp’s grip on India’s digital communication landscape?
In recent weeks, Arattai—a messaging application created by Indian technology firm Zoho—has experienced unprecedented growth across India. The company reports approximately seven million downloads occurred within a single week recently, though specific dates weren’t disclosed. This represents a dramatic shift from August, when market intelligence provider Sensor Tower recorded fewer than 10,000 downloads.
The name Arattai comes from Tamil, meaning casual conversation or banter. While the app quietly launched in 2021, it remained largely unknown until now. Many observers attribute its newfound popularity to the federal government’s emphasis on economic self-sufficiency, particularly as India navigates challenges posed by significant American trade tariffs.
This message of domestic production and consumption has been consistently championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet in recent weeks.
Two weeks ago, Federal Minister Dharmendra Pradhan endorsed the application on X, encouraging citizens to utilize Indian-developed apps for their communication needs. His post sparked a cascade of similar endorsements from government officials and corporate leaders.
Zoho acknowledges that governmental support played a significant role in driving downloads. “Within just three days, daily registrations jumped from 3,000 to 350,000,” Zoho CEO Mani Vembu explained. “We witnessed a hundredfold increase in active user engagement, and that momentum continues.” Vembu suggests this surge demonstrates consumer enthusiasm for domestically created products that address their specific requirements.
While Zoho hasn’t released detailed active user statistics, industry analysts note the company remains far behind Meta’s WhatsApp, which boasts 500 million monthly active users in India.
WhatsApp has become deeply embedded in Indian society, serving as the nation’s largest market for the platform. Indians rely on it for everything from sharing morning greetings en masse to conducting business operations.
The feature sets of Arattai and WhatsApp show considerable overlap. Both enable text messaging, voice communications, and video conferencing. Each offers business-oriented tools, and Arattai claims its platform performs efficiently on budget smartphones and slower internet connections—similar to WhatsApp’s optimization strategy.
Social media responses to Arattai have been largely positive. Users have complimented its interface design and found it comparable to WhatsApp in terms of usability. Many have expressed national pride in supporting an Indian-developed application.
This isn’t India’s first attempt at creating domestic alternatives to international technology giants. Previously, applications like Koo and Moj were positioned as replacements for X and TikTok (following the Indian government’s 2020 ban on the Chinese app), but neither sustained their initial momentum. ShareChat, once considered WhatsApp’s primary domestic competitor, has similarly scaled back its ambitions.
Delhi-based technology analyst Prasanto K Roy believes Arattai faces substantial obstacles in penetrating WhatsApp’s established user network, particularly given that numerous businesses and government services operate through the Meta-owned platform.
According to Roy, Arattai’s ultimate success hinges on user retention, not just acquisition—something nationalist sentiment alone cannot sustain. “The product must excel on its own merits, but even then, displacing an application with billions of global users presents enormous challenges,” he notes.
Privacy Concerns Emerge
Some analysts have raised questions about Arattai’s data protection measures. While the application provides end-to-end encryption for voice and video communications, this security feature doesn’t currently extend to text messages.
“The government seeks message traceability for security purposes, which is more easily achieved without end-to-end encryption,” explains Shashidhar KJ, managing editor at MediaNama, a technology policy publication. However, he warns this approach compromises user privacy.
Zoho states that end-to-end encryption for messages is under active development. “Our original plan involved launching after implementing full encryption, which would have occurred within a few months,” Vembu noted. “However, the timeline accelerated, and we’re working to deploy critical features and infrastructure as rapidly as possible.”
WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption for both messages and calls, though its policies allow metadata sharing—such as message or call records—with governments when legally required.
Indian internet regulations mandate that social media platforms share user information with the federal government under specific circumstances, but retrieving this data from international corporations often proves difficult and lengthy.
Global technology companies like Meta and X possess the legal resources and financial capacity to challenge government requests or regulations they consider unjust.
In 2021, WhatsApp initiated legal action against India regarding new digital content regulations, arguing they undermined the platform’s privacy protections. X has similarly contested the Indian government’s authority to block or remove content.
This raises a critical question: Would an Indian company like Arattai possess similar ability to resist government demands that might compromise user privacy?
Tech law specialist Rahul Matthan suggests many potential users may hesitate until Arattai provides greater clarity regarding its privacy framework and Zoho’s position on sharing user-generated content with authorities.
Roy points out that Zoho might feel obligated to the government, especially given ministerial promotion of the app. He adds that an Indian startup may face greater pressure to comply with domestic laws and law enforcement requests than international competitors.
When questioned about handling such requests, Vembu stated the company aims to give users complete control over their data while adhering to the nation’s information technology regulations.
“Once complete end-to-end encryption is implemented, even we won’t access user conversation content. We’ll maintain transparency with users regarding any legal obligations,” he said.
Historical patterns suggest Indian applications face steep odds, particularly against habit-forming platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. Whether Arattai can succeed where others have failed—or join the list of faded alternatives—remains an open question.
