The Indian messaging app that wants to take on WhatsApp

BBC:

Can an Indian-made messaging app compete with the behemoth that is WhatsApp?

Over the past couple of weeks, Arattai, developed by Indian tech company Zoho, has become a viral sensation in the country. The company says it saw seven million downloads in “seven days last week”, without specifying the dates. According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Arattai’s downloads were less than 10,000 in August.

Arattai, which means banter in the Tamil language, had a soft launch in 2021, but not many had heard of it. The sudden surge in its popularity is being linked to the federal government’s push for self-reliance as India deals with the impact of steep US trade tariffs on its goods.

It’s a message that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers have repeated over the past few weeks – make in India and spend in India.

Federal minister Dharmendra Pradhan said as much when he posted about Arattai on X a fortnight ago urging people to use “India-made apps [to stay] connected”. Since then, several other ministers and business leaders have also posted about Arattai.

The company says the push from the government “definitely contributed to the sudden surge in Arattai downloads”.

“In just three days, we saw daily sign-ups increase from 3,000 to 350,000. In terms of our user base’s active users, we saw a 100X jump, and that number is continuing to rise,” Zoho CEO Mani Vembu told the BBC, adding that this also shows that users are “enthusiastic about a homegrown product that can meet all their unique needs and requirements”.

The company has not provided details about their active users, but experts say that they are still a far cry from the 500 million monthly active users that Meta’s WhatsApp has in India.

India is WhatsApp’s biggest market and the app is almost a way of life in the country, with people using it for everything from sending bulk good morning wishes to running their businesses.