The Sapindaceae occur in temperate to tropical regions, many in laurel forest habitat, throughout the world.

Many are laticiferous, i.e. they contain latex, a milky sap, and many contain mildly toxic saponins with soap-like qualities in either the foliage and/or the seeds, or roots.

[citation needed] The largest genera are Serjania, Paullinia, Allophylus and Acer.

[citation needed] Some authors formerly maintained some or all of Hippocastanaceae and Aceraceae, however this resulted in paraphyly.

[7]: 294 The largely temperate genera formerly separated in the families Aceraceae (Acer, Dipteronia) and Hippocastanaceae (Aesculus, Billia, Handeliodendron) were included within a more broadly circumscribed Sapindaceae by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.

Some species of maple and buckeye are valued for their wood, while several other genera, such as Koelreuteria, Cardiospermum, and Ungnadia, are popular ornamentals.

Saponins extracted from the drupe of Sapindus species are effective surfactants and are used commercially in cosmetics and detergents.