The 5 best roach killers in 2021

We spoke with waste management professionals at Organic Pest Control NYC and Cindy Mannes, vice president of public affairs for the NPMA to learn what the most effective chemicals and approaches to cockroach management are, and found out the necessary concentrations of active ingredients to get the job done. Other specific considerations were:

Ease of use: Is it something as simple as opening a cartridge and slipping it under the sink, or do you have to crawl around on your hands and knees with a hazmat suit on? We offer recommendations across the spectrum, so choose what is most practical (and realistic) for you and your household.

Toxicity: We considered whether active ingredients were toxic to humans and pets. Essentially, everything is at the very least mildly toxic, but some options, like the Fipronil found in Raid's Bait Stations, were considerably less problematic for pets.

Effectiveness: Effectiveness is without a doubt the most important feature of a roach killer or trap. We considered the active chemicals, our experts' recommendations, and user reviews. No matter what type of poison you use, though, effectiveness is going to be relative to cleanliness. If your house is a sty, you'll just keep inviting roaches (and a whole host of other pests) to, yes, march to their imminent deaths, but they'll still be coming to your home to commit their final act. Keep counters and floors clean, keep your sink free of dishes, store food in airtight containers, vacuum weekly, ventilate crawl spaces, and prevent moisture from building up, especially due to leaky pipes and faucets.

Use Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer around the periphery of your house every few months and roaches stand a fat chance of breaching its interior.

Pros: Long-term preventative solution, suited for outdoor and indoor use, also works for spot-killing

Cons: Labor-intensive, spray nozzle can be finicky, poses a threat to aquatic habitats

A preventative spray, Ortho Home Defense Insect killer is effective for about three months at keeping roaches and plenty of other six-legged vermin at bay.

Whether you're neck-deep in cockroaches or you're just preparing for or anticipating the worst, a perimeter spray is a great measure to take both inside and out. It also keeps far more than roaches out of your house, and creates a buffer against an impressively diverse list of potentially more harmful critters.

Using an electric spray gun (included with the gallon-size jug), you want to slightly dampen a four-inch perimeter around your house and make sure to keep children and animals away from it until it's dry (same goes for indoor application, though you'll want to apply less liberally).

The main thing you want to keep in mind is thoroughness. You're essentially building a fence, so lay the stuff on thick. You should coat window and door frames, crawlspaces, garage doors, and any and all crevices. Fortunately, you'll only have to do this once a season. 

Again, be sure everything is good and dry before pets and children enter the space. You'll want to use this stuff under heavy control. Consider wearing a mask, but also be sure not to spray it in a room you or anyone else will be spending time in within several hours. One note: because this product contains Bifenthrin, which is toxic to certain aquatic creatures including fish, you may want to avoid using it if your property borders a body of water.

When you're coming face to face with roaches, Raid Ant & Roach Killer is an on-the-spot spray that will make short work of your adversaries — at least the ones you can see.

Pros: Instantly effective, and effective against most insects

Cons: Only effective upon sight, not a long-term solution, relatively toxic

Kill-on-contact spray is important to have for visible infestations, though keep in mind that it contains a cocktail of Cypermethrin and Imiprothrin, among others, all of which are somewhat toxic to humans. 

Raid's Ant & Roach Killer Insecticide Spray is also handy when you have a clear idea of where the roaches are traveling because it remains temporarily lethal enough that, if you spray their trail before shutting out the lights and heading off to bed, it will still do your bidding.

Complete eradication requires a combination of approaches, and sprays like this won't kill the roaches you can't see and trace. A perimeter spray and bait stations will pick up most of your slack, though, and Raid Ant & Roach Killer Insecticide Spray is great to have on hand for pretty much any bug infestation.

Advion Cockroach Gel Bait applies invisibly wherever you need to and then makes its way back to the nest to wreak havoc.

Pros: Long-lasting, placement is highly customizable, also attracts and takes care of crickets (field and house), silverfish, and ants

Cons: Labor-intensive to apply, not pet-safe

When you have a serious infestation and you're not able to pinpoint the source or the nest, a spreadable gel is a great option because you can smear it into any and all suspect cracks, corners, and crevices. And, yes, as hermetically sealed as your domicile may be, there are almost always cracks in every abode, and that is indeed how the roaches get in.

Advion's Cockroach Gel Bait, with Indoxacarb as its active ingredient, mercilessly attacks the pests' nervous systems and spreads throughout the nest. Before long, the whole colony is belly-up.

While application is more involved than opening a box and dispersing a few traps throughout the house, Advion's Cockroach Gel Bait comes with applicator tips so that it's not a horribly messy chore. Squeeze it into cracks and create a bead or dots around baseboards, near trash cans, and anywhere else the vermin may be finding their way into your living space.

This formula is also approved for use on boats, planes, and other vehicles, including your car.

The Black Flag Roach Motel Insect Trap not only kills cockroaches, but it keeps the dead ones contained and out of sight.

Pros: You won't wake up to a massacre on your floor, odor-free, pesticide-free

Cons: Traps become tattered over time, might also trap smaller rodents (e.g., mice) that could render the trap useless

A self-contained trap like Black Flag's Roach Motel is often the most practical and comfortable approach as the cleanup is much less involved: Just pick the thing up (with a ten-foot pole, if you'd like) and toss it once it's full or too tattered to perform its job any longer. It also entices and contains spiders, scorpions, crickets, and other insects.

This is a great option for households with pets and small children because the active ingredient in these traps isn't any sort of pesticide but merely a sticky tape, so even if they do find their way in (as small children and pets are wont with most things), it's nontoxic.

Roach Motels come two to a pack and the way they work is simple: the roaches (and other pests) are lured in by Black Flag's sweet proprietary concoction and once inside the trap, find themselves attached to a sticky tape. While this is arguably cruel, keep in mind that roaches probably aren't capable of experiencing existential plight or pain like we are. Still, it's important to accept that smaller rodents might also find their way in, at which point they will be trapped and left to suffer (as they do in traps like these).

Common, small roaches don't require anything too pernicious, and Combat Max 12-Month Bait Stations are plenty effective — and discreet.

Pros: Long-term efficacy, discreet

Cons: Doesn't work on larger species (stations for larger species are prohibited in some places)

The heavy sprays and gels aren't necessary for the common, small roach. An insecticide with Fipronil, like Combat's Max 12-Month Roach Killing Bait Stations, is more than adequate.

The beauty of these little contraptions is threefold: they're affordable; they last for a whole year as the packaging suggests; and the domino effect they have on the nest, and potentially the entire local population, is underway the second one individual roach takes the bait.

We also particularly like how nondescript these bait stations are. Toss them under the fridge, in the back of the kitchen cabinet, and pretty much anywhere they're likely to roam, and guests and housemates alike will be none the wiser of your little problem.

While we're not big on relying on shopper reviews, Amazon is brimming with hundreds of gleaming (and incredibly entertaining) reviews. Some purchasers expressed their gratitude at no longer seeing any live roaches around the house within a day of setting these stations, and another, noting similar effectiveness, added rather darkly that their "only regret is that the roaches can't feel [his] hate."

What are the most effective chemicals to look for in a roach killer?

Chemicals that affect the central nervous system of insects work best, especially because they're so effective with roaches but don't tend to affect mammals (specifically mammalian pets and humans) to the same degree. Cypermethrin, Imiprothrin, Fipronil, and Indoxacarb are the more common EPA-approved ones and the active ingredients found in the products we recommend above.

What type of roach killer or trap is right for me?

Depending on the degree of your infestation and the size of attack you are willing to mount on your own (before it's time to throw in the towel and call an expert extermination service), any of our recommendations are applicable. But here's the basic run-down of application and effectiveness of each type of trap and poison:

Bait stations: Bait stations lure roaches in for poisonous bait, which they'll then take back to the nest. The carnage throughout your house will be known — in other words, there will be dead roaches scattered about — but application is as easy as dropping the little plastic discs here and there and replacing them every 12 months. This is about as easy as it gets, but there will be cleanup.

Gel baits: Gel baits are secondary only to preventative sprays because while they're thoroughly effective, they leave behind a trail of dead bugs that you'll have to regularly encounter, collect, and discard. Still, this is a great way to stop roaches from developing regular trails through kitchen cabinets, cracks in the wall, and other such tight crevices.

Preventative sprays: Preventative sprays are somewhat labor-intensive in that you have to thoroughly and carefully spray them around the inner and outer perimeters of your house, and let it dry (about four hours) before going near the sprayed areas. In our experience and at our experts' recommendations, this is the most effective option.

Spot-killing sprays: If you're coming face to face with roaches in your home, something like a spray will get the job done on the spot, but yes, you'll have to clean up after your offensive. Plus, depending on how much you spray, you can really foul the air in your house for a while.

Sticky traps: Sticky traps can be effective, and while they're pesticide-free, they're a little cruel because whatever gets stuck in there is going to die of exhaustion or starvation. These traps also tend to be on the larger side, so they're harder to hide.

Roach killers are toxic by nature, but there are plenty of chemicals that will exterminate without being toxic to pets and humans. Here's more about the toxicity in the active ingredients found within the products we recommend: 

Cypermethrin: A fast-acting neurotoxin in insects, Cypermethrin is generally only a mild irritant to humans and mammals, as it's 1,000 times more potent to insects. Still, it's best to take care and to avoid skin contact when handling it. (Note, Ortho's Home Defense Insect Killer includes Cypermethrin but also features a small concentration of Bifenthrin, which is harmful to aquatic insects and fin fish, and it's best to avoid letting it leak into bodies of water.)

Fipronil: Also used for killing fleas and ticks on dogs, Fipronil affects the central nervous system of insects, and while studies show that it's heavily toxic to rodents, it will only cause mild skin irritation on humans. If consumed, health effects become much more serious, though not necessarily life-threatening.

Imiprothrin: Categorized by the EPA as having a "low order of toxicity" in humans (and mammals), Imiprothrin exposure manifests as a mild skin and eye irritant, and is considered perfectly suitable for indoor applications.

Indoxacarb: Classified by the United States EPA as a "not likely" human carcinogen, Indoxacarb is a pyrethroid also used to prevent the transmission of pathogenic microorganisms from insects to humans and other animals. Still, it has caused neurotoxicity in several studies of both mice and rats, and you'll want to seek medical attention if ingested. 

Read more about pesticide toxicity assessment at the EPA.

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