The article at hand presents an investigation on crack development in three different types of strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) subjected to uni-axial tensile loading. The aim of the work was to evaluate the applicability of acoustic emission (AE) measurements for determining the progressive damage within the material, as well as for differentiating the individual damage events by their origin and decisive mechanisms, such as matrix cracking, fiber pullout or fiber rupture. The acoustic emission method proved to be fully appropriate for recording and evaluating the fracture related processes in various types of SHCC. Valuable information on failure mechanisms and quantitative description of damage depending on SHCC composition was obtained and evaluated with respect to the measured stress-displacement curves and under consideration of fracture surfaces and crack patterns observed on the specimens.