Arattai vs WhatsApp: What Makes Zoho’s Made-in-India Chat App Different From Meta Messenger? Check Comparison

Years after Koo and Hike, another home-grown social media application, Arattai, is creating ripples among netizens. Zoho's messaging app saw its daily sign ups swell from 3,000 to 3,50,000 in three days and left many people see it is as India's answer to WhatsApp.

"We have faced a 100x increase in Arattai traffic in 3 days (new sign-ups went vertical from 3K/day to 350K/day)," said Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu in a social media post last week. While Zoho launched the messaging application in 2021, it is only in 2025, that it got a sharp surge in user base.

Last week, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan encouraged people to support Atmanirbhar Bharat by switching to Arattai messaging app. His message reaffirmed Zoho's Arattai's image as India's alternative to Meta's WhatsApp. As users continue to talk about the messenger appl, here are key features of Arattai which makes it different from WhatsApp.

Zoho's Arattai Key Features

Zoho's messaging app's name, Arattai, means 'casual talk' in Tamil. Initially launched in 2021, the application was dismissed even by its creators and employees as they doubted its potential. As the application is receiving heightened interest, its parent firm is planning to launch a significant update in November 2025. Here are the key features offered by the application.

Arattai Meeting

The messaging application offers a unique feature called Arattai Meeting. It is a blend of WhatsApp and Google Meet, as users can create or join online meetings and view upcoming meetings or past meeting history. They can not only join the meeting, they can also record it.

Streamlined Storage

To offer optimum utilisation of features at low storage requirement, the application has 'Pocket', personal storage section. This feature allows users to store important documents or files conveniently without cluttering their chat history.

Android TV Compatibility

Arattai extends its multi-device support to Android TVs. While texting from a TV might not be common, this feature proves useful for conducting meetings on larger screens. It enhances connectivity across devices like phones, tablets, PCs, and now TVs.

Zoho vs WhatsApp: Messaging, Calling, Sharing Status

Both the application offers key features of a messenger application like sending text messages, video and voice calling and sharing status with friends and family.

Zoho vs WhatsApp: Location Sharing

WhatsApp's location sharing feature has come in handy for users to track the location of their loved ones. It has also made it convenient for users to share their real-time location. While, WhatsApp has an option to share current and live location (for 1, 8 or 24 hours), Zoho's Arattai is a step ahead.

The homegrown application offers a unique feature to share location till a specific destination. Users can set their destination using the 'Till I reach' option. The location will be shared until they arrive at their destination, after which it stops automatically. This feature allows users to pre-set destinations for future outings.

Zoho vs WhatsApp: Data Privacy

Zoho's data privacy policies has garnered significant attention, as the company has pledged that Arattai will not monetise personal data. As of now, there has been no details of data leaks related to the application.

Meta's WhatsApp assures its users that their personal messages, calls, photos and videos are secured with a lock with end-to-end encryption on the app. The feature is currently not present with Zoho.