10 Best Ant Killers: Fast, Safe and Effective

We reviewed the best kinds of ant killers on the market that are both effective and safe for wildlife.
By
Phyllis McMahon
Phyllis McMahon
Research Writer
Phyllis teaches English Literature at a local college and loves writing in her free time. She’s also a great cook – her British beef Wellington is something the best res read more
reviewed
Reviewed By
Chas Kempf
Chas Kempf
Expert Consultant
Chas works in a professional pest control company and knows all the nuances of this job. Also, he’s a fantastic tennis player and loves to organize BBQ parties for his fam read more
Last updated: January 06, 2026
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If you have an ant problem in or around your home, we are sure that you want a solution that is fast and easy. That is why we have done the work to review different ant killers to solve your ant problem. When reviewing the best ant killers, we want to find the perfect product that is effective against all kinds of ants but also safe for those in your home. We chose ant killers that are safe around pets and children but still fatal around all ants. Keeping you and your family safe from harsh chemicals is important, so finding an ant killer that reflects those needs are one of the many qualities we have sought for.

Quick Summary

Top 10 Ants Killers Reviewed in 2026

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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 8151 people in the past 30 days
9.9
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.6
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.6
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.5
9.9
1
Features
  • Form: bait
  • Active ingredients: Avermectin B1 (0.05%)
  • Weight: 0.28 oz
  • Effective against: ant colonies
  • Duration: up to 3 months
  • Place: indoors

More features: two types of baits, child-resistant

Thanks to the design of this ant bait, you don’t have to see the ants that get collected in the trap. We like this product because it’s easy to use and easy to clean up after. No need to pick up dead ants with this product.

We rated the raid max double control ant baits with the editor’s choice because you get all of the important qualities with this product. It’s safe to use around pets and kids, provides an easy cleanup, and has amazing value.

This product is similar to the Ultrasonic Pest Control Repeller as they are both safe to use around pets and kids and are better for the environment than the harsh chemicals listed in other products.

    What makes it stand out?
  • Super easy to use
  • Safe for pets and kids
  • Provides for an easy cleanup
  • You don’t have to look at the dead ants
    Which disadvantages must you keep in mind?
  • Hard to get ants to go into the trap
  • Need to know where the ants are mostly located to use the baits
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 2457 people in the past 30 days
9.7
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.2
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.3
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.4
9.7
Features
  • Form: gel
  • Active ingredients: Indoxacarb
  • Weight: 0.5 lbs.
  • Effective against: all ants
  • Duration: not specified
  • Place: residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial areas

More features: broad-spectrum

This Advion Ant Gel is an easy-to-use product that uses tough chemistry to kill off any ants that are in your home. It uses a gel formula that you can place around your home, and it will target all the ants you are struggling against.

We rated this product as the premium pick for its high quality. The chemical that this product uses is the only chemical in its class, making it work like no other chemical out there. Because of the high quality, it is also a more expensive option for getting rid of ants.

This product is similar to the Combat Ant Killing Gel as they both use gel mixtures to remove ants from your home. However, this product is the higher quality version and we like that you get more products with the Advion Ant Gel.

    Why is it special?
  • A super tough product
  • It can be used both residentially and commercially
  • Highly attractive to the ants in your home to kill more of them
    What are the flaws?
  • Might have to frequently replace the product with how many ants you have
  • A more expensive product
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 7552 people in the past 30 days
9.6
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.1
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.5
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.1
9.6
Features
  • Form: bait station
  • Active ingredients: Borax
  • Weight: 4.32 oz
  • Effective against: household ants including acrobat, crazy, ghost, little black, odorous house, pavement, and other sweet-eating ants
  • Duration: up to 3 months
  • Place: indoors

More features: works fast, ready to use

This is another ant bait that we have found to be incredibly effective. This bait uses an attractive liquid to get more ants to go into the trap with no way to escape. You get 12 baits with this product, and they are ready to go as soon as you snap off the tab. From there, all you have to do is wait.

We rated this ant bait as the best value because you get so much product for your money. At under $13, you get 12 bait traps that last for around three months each. This product works fast to kill as many ants as possible to make your home ant-free. This product is great against sugar ants, but if you need more help against these tiny ants, check out these other solutions.

The Terro ant baits are similar to our editor’s choice of the Raid baits. However, this is the more price-conscious choice as it is less expensive for more traps. Unlike the Raid baits, there isn’t a good way to hide how many ants have collected in the traps, which could be a troublesome sight to some.

    Why did it make our list?
  • It’s an easy product to use
  • Super effective
  • Best value price
  • Attracts the ants in your house to one spot and traps them
  • Comes with 12 baits
    What is not ideal about it?
  • You have to see the collected ants
  • The baits can get blocked
  • You have to replace them once it gets full
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 7704 people in the past 30 days
9.5
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.4
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.2
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.2
9.5
Features
  • Form: spray
  • Active ingredients: Bifenthrin (Cis Isomers 97%, Trans Isomers 3% Max) (0.0500%), Zeta-Cypermethrin (Cis/Trans Ratio: Max. 75% [+/-] Cis and Min. 25% [+/-] Trans) (0.0125%)
  • Weight: 1.1 gal
  • Effective against: ants, cockroaches, spiders, fleas, ticks
  • Duration: up to 12 months
  • Place: inside and outside

More features: odor free, has a comfort wand

The Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer is a great product that makes spraying against ants super easy to do. With this product, you get a large container of ant killer that can be sprayed along the inside and outside of your home for easy ant-killing power. We rated this product the Most Versatile because this product can be used for more than just ants. Not only is it effective against all kinds of ants, but it can also be used against roaches, spiders, fleas, and more! If you have any sort of insect problem, this product can be used to help.

This product is similar to the Ortho Defense Fire Ant Killer. Both of these products can be used for wide ranges and also have a wide range of insect killing. While they are in different product forms, they are both just as effective.

    What are our favorite features?
  • Super versatile
  • Good value
  • It can be used for more than just ants
  • The spray feature makes it easy to use
    What could be better?
  • It shouldn't be sprayed around pets and kids. It may not be the safest
  • It may require reapplications over time
  • Not best for wildlife when used outside
Also Product Ranking:
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 9033 people in the past 30 days
9.4
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.0
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.3
Features & Benefits
Product Review
9.0
9.4
Features
  • Form: gel
  • Active ingredients: Fipronil
  • Weight: 27 g
  • Effective against: kills ants and the entire colony
  • Duration: up to 3 months
  • Place: indoors

More features: easy to use, child-resistant, leaves little mess, high water content

The Combat Indoor and Outdoor Ant Killing Gel is another gel ant killer that will attract ants to eat the poisonous gel. We have found this to be a great product for its price and can help with both indoor and outdoor problems.

We rated this product as Lowest Price as it is the cheapest product on our list. At less than $6, you get a lot of valuable products that will work against ants for up to 3 months. You won’t be able to find such a good product for as low of a price anywhere else.

You can place this gel around outlets to get rid of ants in the walls, but for more outlet solutions, check out this list. This ant-killing gel is similar to the Advion Ant Gel. This is the cheaper product if you are trying to stick to a budget for your ant troubles.

    What do we love it for?
  • Your cheapest option
  • Very effective
  • Good for indoors and outdoors
  • Will kill the whole ant colony
    What were we disappointed with?
  • You have to be aware while using it around pets
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 9938 people in the past 30 days
9.2
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
9.1
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.0
Features & Benefits
Product Review
8.8
9.2
6
Highest Amount of Product

Greenbean Buddy Bug Killer

Features
  • Form: spray
  • Active ingredients: not specified
  • Weight: 1 gal
  • Effective against: bed bugs, roaches, fleas, ticks, ants, beetles, mites, lice
  • Duration: up to 30 days
  • Place: indoors

More features: no odor, eco-friendly

If you need plenty of products that you can also get as a subscription service, this bug killer is perfect for you. The Greenbean Buddy Bug Killer works against many kinds of bugs, and it is a spray that is very easy to use.

We rated this product as the Highest Amount of Product because this is the largest amount of ant killer that you can get on our list. You get a whole gallon of product and can even get it as a subscription service so that you can always have plenty of bug killers.

This product is so safe that you can use it in your bedroom! Check out this guide for more steps to get rid of ants in your room. This product is similar to the Ortho Home Defense as they are both versatile bug killers that you can get in high quantities. Get plenty of products with both of these products. Though, this is the more expensive product of the two.

    What makes it special?
  • Get lots of product
  • An eco-friendly product
  • Can get it as a subscription service
  • Works against all sorts of bugs
  • Works up to 30 days
    What cons did we find?
  • It is pretty expensive
  • It can require reapplications depending on the level of infestation
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 9498 people in the past 30 days
9.1
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
8.6
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
9.0
Features & Benefits
Product Review
8.8
9.1
7
Features
  • Form: powder
  • Active ingredients: 75% Acephate
  • Weight: not specified
  • Effective against: fire ants
  • Duration: not specified
  • Place: non-crop areas such as fields, pastures, recreational turf, residential and landscaped turf, food-bearing plants, and trees

More features: kills up to 108 fire ant mounds

If you want something a little different for your ant problem, we recommend Martin’s Surrender Fire Ant Killing powder for your ant problems. This powder is specifically effective against fire ants but can work against other kinds of ants as well.

We rate this product as Best Against Fire Ants as this product is specifically made to kill them. You can put this product almost anywhere outside, including ant hill. If you put it on the hill, you can get the product to the queen to kill off the root of the ant problem. This product is similar to the Ortho Orthene Fire Ant Killer as they are both powders that aim to kill off the fire ants that are causing you trouble.

    Why did it make our list?
  • Works great against fire ants
  • The powder form can be spread
  • It can be placed on the ant hill mound
  • Safe for outside use
    What is not ideal about it?
  • Not safe around pets outside
  • The powder can be washed away from rain
  • Has a strong smell
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 9816 people in the past 30 days
9.0
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
8.6
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
8.5
Features & Benefits
Product Review
8.9
9.0
8
Best Against Ant Queens

Ortho Orthene Fire Ant Killer

Features
  • Form: powder
  • Active ingredients: 50% Acephate
  • Weight: 2.23 lbs.
  • Effective against: fire ants
  • Duration: not specified
  • Place: outside

More features: kills the queen and destroys the mound. No watering-in required

We know that dealing with fire ants is annoying and troubling. That’s why we like the Ortho Orthene Fire Ant Killer. It is an easy powder that targets both fire ants and ant queens.

We rated this ant killer with Best Against Queen Ants because we know that it’s tricky to get to the source. This product can be poured right on an ant mound and get to the root of the problem, the queen ant. Once the queen is killed by this product, your ant problem will disappear before you even know it. This product is similar to Martin’s Fire Ant Killer. They both do well in targeting fire ants using powder. They use the same active ingredient, though this product has less of the main active ingredient.

    Why are we impressed?
  • Low price
  • Works well to kill the queen ant
  • Safe to use outside
    What negatives must you be aware of?
  • Not safe around outdoor pets
  • Has a strong smell
  • It can be blown away from the wind when applying the powder
  • Can be messy
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 8206 people in the past 30 days
8.9
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
8.6
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
8.8
Features & Benefits
Product Review
8.6
8.9
9
Safest for Household Furniture

Zap-A-Roach Roach & Ant Killer

Features
  • Form: non-staining compound
  • Active ingredients: Boric acid
  • Weight: 1lb.
  • Effective against: ants and roaches
  • Duration: not specified
  • Place: home

More features: odorless

Zap-A-Roach is powerful against both ants and roaches. This powdery compound does a good job killing off any pests that you have, and you can get a two-pack for a very reasonable price. We rated this product as the safest for household furniture because you can use this product inside, and it won’t cause any harm to your floors or furniture. It is safe to use inside as it won’t stain or damage any indoor materials. This product is easy to use as all you have to do shake and pour in the areas where you are commonly find ants.

This product is similar to the Ortho Home Defense Bug Killer as they are both safe for indoor use. Neither of these products will cause damage to the floors, walls, or furniture of your house. This makes the product worry-free, as all you have to do is let these products kill off the ants in your house.

    Why are we impressed?
  • Reasonable price for the amount of product you get
  • Easy to use
  • Safe for indoor use
  • Doesn’t have a bad smell
    What negatives must you be aware of?
  • The product can clump up after application, making it difficult to dispense evenly
  • This product can spill if not stored properly
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Consumer Engagement
Chosen by 7244 people in the past 30 days
8.7
Customer Feedback
Customer Feedback
0.5
Brand Reputation
Based onweb analytics
0.5
Features & Benefits
Product Review
0.7
8.7
Features
  • Form: ultrasonic electric repeller
  • Active ingredients: not applicable
  • Weight: 2.5 oz per piece
  • Effective against: rodents, ants, cockroaches, bed bugs, mosquitos, flies, spiders, squirrels and bats
  • Duration: not applicable
  • Place: home

More features: eco-friendly, safe

We totally understand if you don’t want to deal with setting up baits or putting chemicals in or around your home. That is why we have included this electric bug repellant from Ultrasonic to drive the ants away from your home without having to kill them off.

We rated this product as the Most Eco-Friendly as it doesn’t cause any harm to wildlife at all. You don’t have to put chemicals around your house in the garden or have the chance of having small children and pets get sick from the chemicals being sprayed around them. Instead, all you have to do is put this repeller up at letting it do its work.

The product most similar to this one is the Greenbean Bug Killer, as both of these products pride themselves on being completely eco-friendly. However, this electric tool is still the most eco-friendly because it doesn’t emit any harsh chemicals.

    What are its best features?
  • Completely eco-friendly
  • Good for getting rid of many small creatures, not just ants
  • Easy to use
    What could be improved?
  • Doesn’t kill off ants, just repels
Also Product Ranking:

Things to Consider

Now that you know about the best ant killers that we have found, it is time for you to figure out which one will work best for your situation. With that, we want to help you know what to look for when finding the best ant killer for your ant infestation needs.

How Can Ant Killers Help You?

Ant killers are a huge help in stopping an ant infestation from taking over your house. Without ant killers, you have to rely on natural remedies to remove and repel the ants away from your house. This can take a long time and isn’t always very effective. Ant killers will kill the ants in your house and also prevent their corpses from attracting new ants. It works to kill and repel at the same time and will be more effective than natural remedies as it will work in shorter amounts of time.

Important Features

When looking to buy an ant killer, there are several features that you will want to look at to make sure you are buying the best one. You will want to look at the active ingredients, effectiveness, form, place, duration, and more to determine which ant killer is best for you.

Active ingredients

10 Best Ant Killers: Fast, Safe and Effective
With the right active ingredients, it isn’t too hard to kill off the ants that are causing chaos in your house.

There are several active ingredients that get the job done well, each with its own specialties. In our list above, we have provided several products with different kinds of active ingredients. For example, borax is a great ingredient that is safer to be around but still super fatal for ants. The Terro Liquid ant killer uses borax as its active ingredient to attract and trap ants in their baits. Other great active ingredients that you should be looking for include boric acid, abamectin, Acephate, bifenthrin, indoxacarb (what the Advion gel uses,) and fipronil. There are other active ingredients that can be used, but this list is some of the most popular active ingredients that you will find in different bug killers.

Some active ingredients are specially used for certain brands or certain forms of bug killers. You might not see a spray bug killer and a powder bug killer have the same active ingredients because they need different ingredients to get the specific job done. The Greenbean bug killer uses natural products like soybean oil and cinnamon as their active ingredients, so it can be safe to use around pets and children.

Effectiveness

Of course, you will want an ant killer that is highly effective. The ant killers that we have listed above have been known to be highly effective. The best way to tell if an ant killer will be highly effective before you make the purchase is to read the reviews. For each of the products mentioned above, they have had many people share their success with the product. With more people sharing that they have had success with using these ant killers, that’s a good indication that the products have high levels of effectiveness.

When using an ant killer in or around your home for the first time, note any changes that you see within the first few days of using the product. If you use baits, check how many ants the bait has trapped after a full day of using it. While it may seem gross, the more dead ants you see, the more effective it is.

With sprays and powders, you’ll notice the effectiveness by noting a decrease in the number of ants you see walking around your home. You may also notice more ant corpses around your house which indicates that the spray or powder did a good job of killing the ants. You should see changes relatively quickly when using an ant killer. If you don’t see changes in a few days, the ant killer you are using isn’t the best one for your situation.

Form

10 Best Ant Killers: Fast, Safe and Effective
With the selection of different forms of ant killers, there are out there on the market, and it can be difficult to tell which one is the best for you.

There tend to be four main forms of ant killers: sprays, powders, baits, and electric. Each of these forms has its purpose along with its strengths and weaknesses.

  • Sprays: Using a spray is great for both indoor and outdoor use. You have a wider range depending on the nozzle the spray has. With a spray, you have a thin layer of ant poison around the border of the rooms of your house and the border of the outside of your house.
  • Powders: Like sprays, powders can be used for inside and outside ant problems. You pour some powder around the perimeter of your house, around your rooms, or even directly on the ant hill mound. Powders do a better job of infiltrating an ant hill because the ants will take the pieces of powder (thinking it’s food) down into the hill and possibly to the queen. This can kill an ant hill from the inside out.
  • Baits: If you don’t want to spray or put down chemicals around your house, you can use baits to let the ants do all the work. When you have baits, you will place them in several locations around your house. Baits will have some sort of substance inside that will attract the ants. When the ants go into the bait, they will get trapped or eat poison. This will kill them, so you no longer have to see ants around. With baits, you will likely have to dump the corpses of the ants out, which can be gross. Keep that in mind before purchasing.
  • Electric: Finally, there are devices that will emit electricity or a magnetic field that will either repel the ants or shock them when they get too close. This is the safest and most eco-friendly option, as there are no chemicals that are being emitted from the device.

Place/Purpose

Different ant killers will have different purposes or different places where they should go. Just as there are some ant killers that are specifically made to be safe for inside use, there are also killers that are better for outside use. Before using an ant killer, make sure you check where it is meant to be used.

Don’t use an ant killer that is meant for outside in your house, as that usually means there are toxic chemicals that aren’t safe to be around pets or children.

Duration

Do you want to be able to control how much product is in your house by having to reapply products, or do you want to be able to wait for a few months before reapplying ant killer? Different ant killers have different durations. Some last for months, like the RAID ant baits, while others last for 30 days, like the Greenbean bug killer. Duration is how long an ant killer will last before they lose effectiveness, and many people like to have longer durations so they can worry less about keeping up with it.

The duration you want for your ant killer is entirely up to your preference. Some people like to have control of using an ant killer that has a shorter duration. Gels and some powders tend to have shorter durations because the material they are made from can move from the elements or get eaten up quickly by the ants. If you don’t want to keep up with reapplying ant killers, sprays and some baits are the solutions for you as they have effectiveness that can last up to 3 months. The product you use will say how long it can be used, so make sure you check the packaging before making your purchase.

Safety

Safety becomes such an important feature when you have to apply an ant killer in your house. Not all ant killers are safe to be around pets, children, or the rest of your garden. When looking at an ant killer, check to see how safe it is for the inside and outside of your house. If an ant killer is safe around pets (and therefore children as well), it will explicitly say that on the packaging. Some will also say that it is not safe for pets and children. If you are concerned about the eco-friendliness of a product, check to see if the packaging says anything about that on the product as well. If an ant killer is eco-friendly, it will say on the packaging. This makes it so much easier to see how safe a product is before using it in or outside of your house.

FAQ

How to use an ant killer?

The way you use an ant killer depends on the form you are using. A spray will be used by spraying the perimeter of the inside and outside of your house. Powders can be used similarly to sprays, but they can also be poured on top of an ant mound to kill the queen. With baits, all you have to do is place them in ant-heavy areas and wait for the ants to get trapped. To use a gel, place dots of the gel along ant trails to attract them to their poison. To best know how to use an ant killer, check the instructions on the container of the ant killer you are using.

Which ant killers can be used at homes with dogs?

Look for eco-friendly and pet-friendly ant killers if you have dogs or other pets in your household. Avoid using sprays or powders unless they specifically say that they are safe around dogs. Otherwise, stick to ant killers like baits and electric traps. The Greenbean liquid bug killer is pet-safe while also being completely eco-friendly. When buying a bug killer, check if they say that they are pet-safe. If they don’t, avoid using them. You should check for this even if you are using the ant killer outside. You don’t want your dog sniffing out and rolling around in poison.

Do you need to clean up after using ant killer?

For most ant killers, you don’t need to clean up after you have used them. If you are using a powder inside, you can sweep or vacuum any remaining powder after it has past its effectiveness period. However, you should avoid cleaning up an ant killer too quickly, as that will reduce its overall effectiveness. Baits should be cleaned up. If they are disposable bait, feel free to through them in the trash after they are full or have passed their effectiveness period. If they are reusable, dump out the ants and reset the bait with a new product.

Our verdict

Now that we have looked at the best ant killers that are highly effective and safe to use, you can now find one that will work for your ant situation. We highly recommend the RAID Max Ant Control baits, the Syngenta 53204 Advion Ant Gel, and the TERRO T300B Liquid Ant Killer. This helps make sure that no ants will be bothering you in or outside of your house. Take time to figure out which ant killer is best for your house and for your family. There are so many kinds of killers out there that one of these will work for your ant-killing needs. Just make sure that the ant killer you go with is safe for any animals you have in your home or for any children that you have.

References

1.
Ant baits for home and garden - UC IPM
Ant baits contain insecticides mixed with materials that attract worker ants looking for food. Baits are a key tool for managing ants and the only type of insecticide recommended in most situations.
2.
Tips for Effective Ant Baiting | NC State Extension Publications
A bait is a mixture of a toxic chemical (an insecticide) mixed with some food item (such as sugar) that attracts an insect pest. For pests such as ants and cockroaches, the baits only attract the insects when they come into contact with the bait while foraging (looking for food). Insect baits are available in many different forms, from granules that are used mostly outdoors to gels and soft solid materials that are commonly used in offices, kitchens and other areas where ants are active.
3.
Ant Control for Householders | Entomology
Ants are the most frequent and persistent pests encountered around homes and buildings. Besides being a nuisance, ants contaminate food, build unsightly mounds on property, and cause damage by hollowing out wood and other materials for nesting.
9,9
Total Score
Raid Max Double Control Ant Baits - Editor’s Choice
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