Zoho’s homegrown messaging platform Arattai has slipped out of India’s top 100 apps on both Google Play and Apple’s App Store, just weeks after briefly overtaking WhatsApp to claim the top position.
As of November 4, Arattai stands at 105th on Google Play and 123rd on the App Store, marking a steep decline from mid-October when it momentarily led both charts. When combined with game rankings, the app now ranks 150th on Google Play and 128th on the App Store, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Developed indigenously by Sridhar Vembu’s Zoho, Arattai gained momentum in September 2025 following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to adopt homegrown products as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Ministers such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Piyush Goyal have publicly praised Zoho’s suite of made-in-India digital tools.
The app, which means “chitchat” in Tamil, was launched officially in early 2021 after an initial pilot in late 2020. It was introduced as a privacy-focused, feature-rich alternative to global messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
While Arattai currently lacks full end-to-end encryption for all chats, Zoho’s CEO Sridhar Vembu recently confirmed that the feature will be rolled out soon. At present, only the “secret chat” option offers encrypted communication. Despite the app’s initial buzz, maintaining user engagement has proven challenging, a trend seen with other local platforms like Hike, which once had over 100 million users before shutting down in 2021.
