As with many such groups, its circumscription has varied; in particular some families that had at one time been moved to the Palpimanoidea have more recently been restored to Araneoidea.

In 1984, Raymond R. Forster and Norman I. Platnick proposed that some groups previously considered araneoid actually belonged in the distantly related Palpimanoidea, including the families Holarchaeidae, Micropholcommatidae, Mimetidae and Pararchaeidae.

In 2014, Hormiga and Griswold produced the summary cladogram shown below, based on what they considered to be the nine most comprehensive phylogenetic studies of Araneoidea prior to their article.

Nicodamidae Holarchaeidae Pararchaeidae Malkaridae Araneidae Nephilidae Tetragnathidae Mimetidae Linyphiidae Pimoidae Theridiidae Nesticidae Synotaxidae Cyatholipidae Synaphridae Theridiosomatidae Mysmenidae Anapidae (including Micropholcommatidae) Symphytognathidae Megadictynidae Nicodamidae Anapidae I (incl.

Micropholcommatidae, Holarchaeidae) Theridiidae Theridiosomatidae Synotaxidae Araneidae (including Nephilidae) Nesticidae Synaphridae Symphytognathidae Anapidae II Cyatholipidae Physoglenidae Pimoidae + Linyphiidae Mysmenidae Malkaridae (incl.