The best roach killers and traps you can buy

Sometimes, you get up close and personal with a cockroach. When you do, kill it fast with a can of Raid Ant & Roach Killer Insecticide Spray.

If your entire plan for dealing with a serious roach problem involves spraying every insect you see with insecticide, then you can count on having a roach problem for many years to come, friend. Treating the issue means killing off the bugs you can't see, which will vastly outnumber the individuals spotted scurrying to and fro. Sorry to tell you that, but it's the truth.

However, as part of a comprehensive roach eradication campaign, it's invaluable to have a kill-on-contact spray at your disposal, and Raid Ant & Roach Killer Insecticide Spray is certainly that. One quick spritz of this surprisingly inoffensive lemon-scented formula and that roach making a beeline for a crack in the wall is dead meat.

This spray can also be used to treat areas of known roach activity, making them temporarily lethal to insects passing through, though the spray lacks the ability to render an exposed insect lethal to others such as many baits do.

With more than 100 customer reviews posted on Amazon, this legacy insecticide brand's roach killer spray has an average 4.3-star rating. One buyer who was "disgust" with roaches, was quite satisfied with the "quality product" that "killed several roaches" immediately upon the first use and smelled "lemony and... almost pleasant."

Morning Chores said the spray works "against other crawling insects like ants, waterbugs, silverfish, crickets, spiders, and the Multicoloured Asian Lady Beetle. The spray has a pleasant scent and it leaves no lingering chemical odor."

Pros: Kills almost instantly, pleasant scent, effective against myriad pests

Cons: Not a long-term pest solution

Buy a 2-Pack of Raid Ant & Roach Killer Insecticide Spray on Amazon for $13.79

You can apply Advion Cockroach Gel Bait exactly where you want it, even in the smallest cracks and crevices, and you can count on roaches bringing its lethal formula back to the nest.

The process of using Advion Cockroach Gel Bait isn't as simple as tossing a few bait stations or traps around the house, nor is it as easy as just spraying every insect you see to kill them on site. But while a more laborious initial undertaking, this stuff more than makes up for the effort required in its extreme lethality to roaches.

It is highly effective for two reasons, the first being the fact that the carboxylate insecticide is simply very deadly to insects. The second reason is that the brand has come up with a blend of ingredients that roaches find irresistible.

Using the included applicator tips, you can spread lines or dots of this gel wherever you have seen roaches in the past or where you suspect they may be lurking. It can be squeezed into cracks in the wall, corners of baseboards, behind trashcans, and anywhere else in your home you see fit for treatment. The gel is also rated for use on boats, planes, or on any other vehicle that might have developed a roach infestation, such as your own car.

With more than 1,000 reviews posted at the time of this writing, Advion Cockroach Gel Bait scores a 5-star rating among 68% of Amazon customers who left feedback. One buyer called it the "best roach killer" he has ever used, while another said the "bad infestation gone in just two weeks" of use.

The Pest Management said this gel can "easily get rid of heavy cockroach infestations" and is definitely "worth buying." Morning Chores picked this as one of its favorites.

Pros: Long lasting killing action, irresistible to roaches, good for heavy infestations

Cons: Labor-intensive use

Buy a box of Advion Cockroach Gel Bait on Amazon for $29.99

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

When you have a roach problem, your primary objective is to kill off the bugs and end the infestation. But with many products, that means days or even weeks of finding dead roaches all around your home or office. Granted, dead roaches are better than living ones, but cleaning up those insect carcasses is hardly pleasant. When you use the Black Flag Roach Motel Insect Trap, the roaches die out of sight and then remain that way, forever entombed within these compact traps.

Rather than relying on a poison to do the dirty work, Black Flag Roach Motel Insect Traps uses a sweetly scented and highly sticky substance that lures the insects into the cardboard box and then traps the roaches fast, causing them to soon perish through lack of sustenance. Which seems cruel, but don't worry, they can't feel pain and they can't process existential plight. Just don't spend too much time looking into one of these things, because it gets macabre in there pretty fast, at least in the eyes of people who can ponder death.

About 250 customers have chimed in on the Black Flag Roach Motel Insect Traps at the time of this writing, giving it an average 4.2-star rating. One customer who initially felt helpless after said the traps have "significantly reduced [the] roach infestation."

The Spruce called these "the best sticky trap" for killing "both large and small roaches."

Pros: No dead roaches littering the floors, no dangerous chemicals, effective for weeks on end

Cons: Traps get grisly-looking over time

Buy a 2-Pack of Black Flag Roach Motel Insect Traps on Amazon for $6.88

If you apply Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer liberally enough around the outside of your home, you may never have to deal with a roach inside your home.

Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer is both a quick-killing and a long-lasting formula, and it can be used both inside and outside of your home. As a spot killing solution, you simply squirt a bit of the stuff on a hapless cockroach you find running across your floor. But this stuff is best used to create a defensive perimeter against infiltration, and as it comes in a gallon-sized container with a powered spray wand, go ahead and apply a heavy dose all around your property.

If you already have a bad roach infestation, it's a good idea to go ahead and apply a thin line of Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer along baseboards, under cabinets, under doors, and so on. Just don't spray it where kids or pets will come into contact with the area until long after it has dried.

As part of infestation mitigation or to proactively ward off a roach approach, spray the formula all around the outside of your house, and lay it on thick. Hit the windows and doorframes, the crawlspace, the garage, and so forth. In most conditions, the barrier you lay down will last for months. Oh, and that lethal barrier you create is also effective against ants, spiders, silverfish, and more.

One Amazon customer proclaimed, "This works!" She goes on to say that she "sprayed the entire perimeter of the house outside, plus inside the house corners and closets, plus the garage" and after many "months [she] hasn't seen one bug since."

Pros: Large volume for food price, creates long-lasting barrier, good for indoor and outdoor use

Cons: Electric spray nozzles sometimes fail after minimal use

Buy a Gallon of Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer on Amazon for $12.99