Charophyceae is a class of charophyte green algae. AlgaeBase places it in division Charophyta. Extant (living) species are placed in a single order Charales, commonly known as "stoneworts" and "brittleworts". Fossil members of the class may be placed in separate orders, e.g. Sycidiales and Trochiliscales.
Charophyceae is basal in the Phragmoplastophyta clade which contains the embryophytes (land plants). In 2018, the first nuclear genome sequence from a species belonging to the Charophyceae was published: that of Chara braunii.