Animal social organization varies from complex societies where reproduction is dominated by a single individual (eusociality) to those where reproduction is more evenly distributed among group members (communal breeding). Yet, how simple groups transition evolutionarily to more complex societies remains unclear. Competing hypotheses suggest that eusociality and communal breeding are alternative evolutionary endpoints, or that communal breeding is an intermediate stage in the transition towards eusociality. We tested these alternative hypotheses in sponge-dwelling shrimps, Synalpheus spp. Although species varied continuously in reproductive skew, they clustered into pair-forming, communal and eusocial categories based on several demographic traits. Evolutionary transition models suggested that eusocial and communal species are discrete evolutionary endpoints that evolved independently from pair-forming ancestors along alternative paths. This 'family-centred' origin of eusociality parallels observations in insects and vertebrates, reinforcing the role of kin selection in the evolution of eusociality and suggesting a general model of animal social evolution.