A comprehensive revision of 981 specimens of fossil cockroaches from the Lower Cretaceous laminated limestones of the Crato Formation of Northeast Brazil shows that they belong to eleven taxa, including , sp. n., sp. n., ; sp. n., (= , syn.n.), sp. n., (= syn.n.), comb. n., and (Umenocoleidae = Cratovitismidae syn.n. = Ponopterixidae syn.n.). The family Ectobiidae is numerically most abundant in the assemblage of cockroaches of the Crato Formation (83 % of cockroaches), followed by Blattulidae (13 %) and Umenocoleidae (4 %). 79.2 % of specimens are complete and fully articulated. Members of the family Alienopteridae are probably also present. Representatives of a relatively common Mesozoic superfamily Caloblattinoidea are missing. With the exception of the endemic genera and and the exclusively Gondwanan genus , all other genera were cosmopolitan. Taxonomic richness of cockroaches of the Crato Formation is thus rather low, and consists of geologically long-ranging and geographically-widespread genera, genera restricted to Gondwana, and short-ranging endemic genera found in the Crato Formation only.