Genus characteristics include long limbs and toes with well-developed lamellae.

The species are egg layers with the exception of Rhacodactylus trachyrhynchus and R. trachycephalus which gives live birth, a characteristic only otherwise found in New Zealand geckos.

Rhacodactylus geckos are sexually dimorphic, with the males possessing larger preanal pores than the females as well as a distinct hemipenis pocket.

A revision of the giant geckos of New Caldonia found weak support for inclusion of some taxa allied to this genus, and these have been assigned to new combinations:[3] The species are regarded as charismatic and popular with herpetologists.

Details of the behaviour of these geckos in captivity, contrasted with a paucity of field observations, has produced extensive literature on the genus.