This paper employs three different kernel-based models--support vector regression (SVR), relevance vector machine (RVM) and Gaussian process regression (GPR)--for the prediction of cement compressive strength. The input variables for the model are taken as C3S (%), SO3 (%), Alkali (%) and Blaine (cm2/g), while the output is 28-day cement compressive strength (N/mm2) of the cement. The hyperparameters of the SVR are obtained using two different metaheuristic optimization algorithms--particle swarm optimization (PSO) and symbiotic organism search (SOS). Trial-and-error-based approach is used for arriving at the hyperparameters of RVM and GPR. The compressive strength predicted using different kernel-based models is also compared with that obtained from ANN and fuzzy logic models reported in the literature. The performance of the different kernel-based models is benchmarked using six different error indices and residual analysis. The performance of the kernel-based models is found to be at par with ANN. The better generalization capability and excellent empirical performance of the kernel-based models overcome the disadvantages associated with ANN and provide a good tool for the prediction of the cement compressive strength.