Perplexity CEO Praises Zoho’s Arattai After Its Rapid User Growth in Just 3 Days

Zoho Corp’s New Messaging App, Arattai, Gets 350,000 Sign-Ups within Days of Its Launch
 

Arratai, an instant messaging app developed by Zoho Corporation, has started gathering attention after global data privacy and tech sovereignty concerns. The application was initially launched in 2021 as an experimental project. 

However, with some of the prominent Indian ministers promoting this app as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Arratai has seen impressive growth within just three days of launch. The user base increased dramatically from 3,000 sign-ups to 350,000 sign-ups. 

Perplexity CEO, Aravind Srinivas, also shared a post on X (previously Twitter) congratulating Zoho Corp’s co-founder, Sridhar Vembu.

Can Arratai Replace WhatsApp?
 

Arratai saw incredible growth in just three days, accounting for a 100-fold increase in customers. Sridhar Vembu, overwhelmed by this growth rate, shared that their team is working on scaling the infrastructure to solve the technical challenges faced after rapid traffic growth. He wrote on X that “We are adding infrastructure on an emergency basis for another potential 100x peak surge. That is how exponentials work.”

This Indian messaging app has surpassed major global rivals, including WhatsApp, after topping the app store rankings. Arratai’s sudden popularity, combined with India’s goal to promote the ‘Make in India’ initiative, paves the way for it to replace WhatsApp in the future.

What’s Special About Arratai?
 

Arratai offers similar features to messaging apps like WhatsApp. For instance, Zoho's app combines one-to-one and group chat, media sharing, voice notes, voice calls, video calls, stories, and channel broadcasting features. Additionally, the app supports Smart TVs and desktop devices, offering more flexibility.

The major difference between this home-grown app and apps like WhatsApp is Arratai’s commitment to a strong privacy policy. Unlike WhatsApp, where personal user data could be used for monetization, this Indian app respects users’ privacy.

To sum up, the user base of Arratai boosted after India’s Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, openly promoted the app. He urged Indian citizens to prioritize local digital platforms over international ones and recommended they use Arratai. 

Apart from this, Vivek Wadhwa, an Indian-American technology entrepreneur and academic, called it “India’s WhatsApp-killer.” However, it is also true that the rapid spike in user growth is causing technical glitches, which the company has promised to resolve as early as possible.