WhatsApp · 5 min read · Savina Bansal
Arattai for Business vs WhatsApp API: Should You Switch?
Zoho launched Arattai for Business in October 2026. Here’s what it offers, what’s still unknown, and whether Indian businesses should move from WhatsApp.
Building the platform this article is about
Zoho launched Arattai for Business in early October 2026. It is free for government services, and it gives healthcare and education up to 1 million free messages a month. Pricing for other businesses has not been announced. For most Indian SMBs, WhatsApp is still where customers are. Ohanvi, a WhatsApp marketing platform, suggests testing Arattai alongside WhatsApp, not instead of it.
What Zoho announced
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu announced the launch on X: “The Arattai-for-Business app is live,” as reported by ChannelIAM on 3 October 2026.
Two things launched. Arattai for Business is an app for talking to customers and your own team from one place. The Arattai Business Platform is a way to connect your software and automations to Arattai.
Zoho says messages are end-to-end encrypted and that the app is built in India for Indian businesses. It connects to Zoho’s own tools, including its CRM.
Who gets it free
Government and public services, such as Railways: free.
Healthcare and education: up to 1 million free messages a month.
Everyone else: pricing “will be finalized shortly”, according to launch coverage. It has not been announced.
Arattai vs WhatsApp API, side by side
| WhatsApp Business API | Arattai for Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your customers are | Already on WhatsApp | Must install Arattai first |
| Price for an Indian SMB | Per message — Meta charges about 86.3 paise for marketing and 11.5 paise for utility | Not announced |
| Free for clinics and schools | No | Up to 1 million messages a month |
| Developer access | Public API with documentation | “Business Platform” announced; public API details not published |
| CRM links | Most CRMs, through providers | Zoho CRM and Zoho tools |
| Verified business badge | Yes | Not announced |
WhatsApp figures are Meta’s published India rates before GST and before any provider’s fee. Arattai details are from Zoho’s launch coverage, early October 2026.
The honest answer: test it, don’t switch
Picture a dental clinic in Coimbatore that sends 3,000 reminders a month. On WhatsApp, that’s about ₹345 in Meta’s utility charges. On Arattai, it could be free.
That saving is real. But a reminder only works if the patient sees it. If a patient doesn’t have Arattai installed, the reminder never arrives.
In September 2025, Arattai’s daily sign-ups jumped from about 3,000 to over 350,000, according to Wikipedia’s account of its growth. That shows interest. It doesn’t yet mean your patients check Arattai every morning.
The quotable version: a messaging app only helps your business if your customers already have it open.
What to do this month
Clinic, school or coaching centre? Sign up and claim the free allowance. Ask a few regular customers to join you there.
Everyone else: wait for Zoho’s commercial pricing and API documentation.
Track one number: how many of your customers reply on Arattai within a month. That tells you more than any launch headline.
Where Ohanvi stands
Ohanvi is built on the official WhatsApp Business API, because that’s where Indian customers reply today. If Arattai publishes an open API and your customers move, we’ll look at it. Until then, Ohanvi keeps every WhatsApp feature on every plan, starting at ₹0 a month.
Credit where due: free messaging for hospitals and schools is a genuinely useful move for India. It’s worth trying.
Compare before you decide
Questions this answers
- What is Arattai for Business?
- Arattai for Business is Zoho’s business messaging app, launched in early October 2026. It lets businesses chat with customers and staff, and connect software through the Arattai Business Platform. Zoho says messages are end-to-end encrypted. It is free for government services, and healthcare and education get up to 1 million free messages a month.
- Is Arattai for Business free?
- Partly. Government and public services use it free. Healthcare and education institutions get up to 1 million free messages a month. Zoho has not announced pricing for other businesses yet, so most SMBs cannot compare costs with WhatsApp today.
- Should I move my business from WhatsApp to Arattai?
- Not yet, for most businesses. Your customers already use WhatsApp, and Arattai’s commercial pricing and API details are not public. Clinics, schools and coaching centres can test the free allowance alongside WhatsApp. Measure how many customers actually reply there before moving anything.
