The Maxakalían group is today usually considered part of the Macro-Jê language family.

Alfred Métraux and Curt Nimuendajú considered the Maxakalían family isolated from others.

John Alden Mason suggests a connection with the Macro-Jê stock, confirmed by Aryon Rodrigues.

Nikulin (2020) proposes the following internal classification of the Maxakalían languages:[2] Maxakalí is a sister of Krenák and possibly also Kamakã.

Together, they form a Trans-São Francisco branch within the Macro-Jê language phylum in Nikulin's (2020) classification.