In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family includes around 65 genera and an estimated 1,650 species and is placed in the order Polypodiales, suborder Polypodiineae.

[3] The broader circumscription is used by Plants of the World Online, as of August 2019[update]; for example, the Dryopteridaceae, shown above as a separate family, is included in its Polypodiaceae.

[5] Molecular phylogenetic analysis has led to the division of the Polypodiaceae into six subfamilies, and to the inclusion of genera that have at various times been placed in other families, including the Drynariaceae, Grammitidaceae, Gymnogrammitidaceae, Loxogrammaceae, Platyceriaceae, and Pleurisoriopsidaceae.

[1][6] The following cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic relationship between the subfamilies based on an analysis published in 2008; at the time, Grammitidoideae was not separated from Polypodioideae.

2011 Drynarioideae Crabbe, Jermy & Mickel 1975 Platycerioideae Nayar 1970 Thylacoptereae Chen & Schneider 2019 Goniophlebieae Chen & Schneider 2019 Lecanopterideae Chen & Schneider 2019 Microsoreae Tu 1981 Lepisoreae Ching ex Hennipman, Veldhoen & Kramer 1990 Polypodioideae Sweet 1826 Campyloneuroideae Zhang & Wei 2022 Adetogrammoideae Zhang & Wei 2022 Serpocauloideae Zhang & Wei 2022 Grammitidoideae Link 1841 The subfamilies are treated as tribes in other systems.