Arattai, the Indian messaging app developed by Zoho, is making waves as it climbs the top charts in app stores across the country. Quietly launched in 2021, the app is now capturing attention amid growing demand for safe, spyware-free alternatives to global messaging platforms. Its positioning as a “made-in-India, privacy-first” service appears to resonate strongly with users.

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu shared that the response has exceeded expectations. Sign-ups for Arattai skyrocketed from 3,000 a day to an astonishing 3.5 lakh daily within just three days. “We faced a 100x increase in Arattai traffic in three days. We are scrambling to add infrastructure for another possible 100x surge. That is how exponentials work,” Vembu wrote on X. Engineers are working tirelessly to fix issues and prepare the app for a broader rollout in November.

The rapid growth of Arattai has reignited discussions around whether Zoho should go public, enabling ordinary investors to partake in its success. Investor Venkatesh Alla has publicly advocated for such a move. However, Vembu believes that Arattai itself might not have been possible under public company pressures.

“Arattai would very likely not have been built by a public company that faces quarter-to-quarter financial pressure,” he explained. Calling the app a “hopelessly foolish” project even doubted by employees, he emphasized that Zoho developed it because India needed such engineering capability. “This kind of long-range R&D simply cannot survive quarter-to-quarter market pressures,” Vembu noted.

Vembu also described Zoho’s unique working culture as deeply frugal, particularly among founders and senior leadership, likening it to ISRO’s scientists who prioritize the bigger picture over short-term rewards. “We essentially ignore short-term profits, as long as we don’t lose money,” he said, adding that this approach is difficult to convey to “Wall Street or Dalal Street.”

He further elaborated that Zoho functions more like a self-funded research lab than a conventional software company, investing in projects spanning chip design, compilers, operating systems, robotics, AI, and security. While many of these initiatives may not yield immediate returns, they are vital for long-term capability building.

For users, Arattai offers a full suite of features, including messaging, calls, voice notes, media sharing, and even Android TV support. Its privacy stance remains the strongest draw, with the company assuring no monetization of user data. End-to-end encryption for calls is already available, while chat encryption is under development.

Despite its sudden popularity, Arattai has faced some technical hiccups, including OTP delays and syncing glitches. Vembu acknowledged the issues and reassured users that infrastructure is being expanded and the app is being fine-tuned. “We have all-hands-on-deck working flat out,” he affirmed.