Spraying the ants you can see kills a few hundred of the million you can't. The products below work the other way, using baits the workers carry back to the nest, which is why the same two or three names keep topping owner reviews year after year.
1. Best Baits: Terro Liquid Ant Killer
Terro's liquid bait stations are the ant product with the deepest review base in Australia, averaging 4.4 stars across more than 1,200 reviews. The borax bait draws sugar-feeding ants in, they carry it home, and the trail usually stops within a week or two.
The six-station pack covers entry points along skirting boards and windows at around $20. The bait only tempts sugar ants, so protein-feeding species walk straight past it, and the first days can look worse before it gets better, since the bait deliberately attracts a crowd.
What We Like:
- Colony kill, not spot kill
- Six sealed stations
- Safe placement indoors
What We Don't Like:
- Sugar ants only
- Trails look busier at first
2. Best Gel: Talon Ant Killer Gel
The Talon gel goes where stations can't: cracks, cable holes, the gap behind the dishwasher. A pea-size dab from the syringe does a station's job in tight spots, and owners rate it 4.6 across more than 300 reviews at around $10.
It stays workable for weeks and wipes away cleanly afterwards. Being a syringe, dosage is on you, and a dab in a dusty spot skins over faster than one in a sheltered crack.
What We Like:
- Reaches cracks and gaps
- Around $10
- Wipes off cleanly
What We Don't Like:
- Dabs dry out in open spots
3. Best Liquid: Combat Ant-Rid
Ant-Rid is the supermarket classic, a small bottle of liquid bait dropped onto cardboard squares wherever the trail runs. It topped this guide years ago and owners still rate it above 4 stars across a healthy review base, mostly for how quickly a kitchen trail collapses.
A bottle costs a few dollars and lasts several infestations. The open drops need to sit out of reach of pets and kids, which is the one practical advantage the sealed Terro stations hold over it.
What We Like:
- Cheap and fast
- Works on stubborn kitchen trails
- One bottle lasts years
What We Don't Like:
- Open drops need care around pets
Other ant killers worth a look
- Brunnings Ant Killer Powder — the perimeter option for nests in lawns and pavers, dusted along the trail lines outside. Around $11 for 500g.
- Professional baiting — a trail that survives two different baits usually means multiple nests or a species the baits don't tempt, which is when a pest controller's gel earns its call-out fee.
How to beat ants
Feed them, don't spray them. Surface sprays kill workers and split colonies into more nests. Baits use the ants' own food-sharing against the colony, which is slower for the first days and far better by the second week.
Match the bait to the ant. Sugar-feeders swarm sweet liquid baits like Terro and Ant-Rid. If the trail ignores sweet bait, the species is after protein, and a gel or a different bait class does the job.
Clean the trail, keep the bait. Wiping the pheromone trail with detergent stops reinforcements finding the kitchen, but leave the bait stations exactly where the traffic was.
RELATED: How to Get Rid of Mould and The Best Mouse Traps
FAQs
How long do ant baits take?
Owners typically report trails thinning within days and gone inside two weeks. The queue at the bait in the first 48 hours is the product working, not failing.
Are these baits safe around pets?
The sealed Terro stations are designed so pets can't reach the bait. Open liquids and gels belong behind appliances and inside cracks rather than on open floor.
