[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":1766},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-buy-a-quantum-computer":3,"sibling-dives-buy-a-quantum-computer":1048,"learn-track-buy-a-quantum-computer":1765},{"id":4,"title":5,"authors":6,"body":8,"breadcrumb":1019,"builders":1023,"byline":1024,"category":1028,"categoryName":1028,"challenge":1028,"courseAuthor":1028,"courseLead":1028,"dek":1029,"description":1030,"draft":1031,"extension":1032,"eyebrow":1028,"featured":1031,"finish":1028,"fork":1028,"group":1028,"groupName":1028,"hero":1028,"heroAlt":1028,"heroCta":1028,"heroImage":1028,"homepageFeatured":1031,"kind":1033,"lessonCount":1028,"meta":1034,"navigation":1035,"newsItems":1028,"next":1028,"ogImage":1036,"order":1028,"outcomes":1028,"path":1037,"publishDate":1038,"readingTime":1039,"related":1040,"relatedProjects":1028,"section":1041,"seo":1042,"stem":1044,"tags":1045,"track":1028,"trackName":1028,"__hash__":1047},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fbuy-a-quantum-computer.md","Can you buy a quantum computer? What one costs, and how to run one free",[7],"nico",{"type":9,"value":10,"toc":1010},"minimark",[11,27,35,40,43,50,56,59,65,69,72,75,211,214,226,230,237,245,533,540,546,554,557,561,564,567,571,574,577,580,584,587,958,980,984,1006],[12,13,14,24],"quick-answer",{},[15,16,17,18,23],"p",{},"You can buy a quantum computer, rent one by the minute, the shot or the gate-shot, or ",[19,20,22],"a",{"href":21},"#how-to-run-one-free","run a real one free",". A two-qubit teaching unit sells for low five figures, a nine-qubit processor module is sold by quote without its refrigerator and control electronics, and a full system runs to millions.",[15,25,26],{},"Rented time starts at $96 a minute on IBM's Pay-As-You-Go plan and $0.000425 a shot on Amazon Braket, and IonQ hardware on Azure carries a per-program minimum. IBM's Open Plan includes ten free hardware minutes a month. Qollab runs your circuit free on simulators with real IBM and IonQ noise models, then on IonQ hardware for credits, and a new account starts with 100 of them.",[15,28,29,30,34],{},"Every provider price in this guide is as published on 17 September 2026, and the ",[19,31,33],{"href":32},"#a-snapshot-september-2026","snapshot at the end"," lists each one with its link; the run prices in the table are derived from them. Prices change; check the provider's page before you budget.",[36,37,39],"h2",{"id":38},"can-a-civilian-buy-a-quantum-computer","Can a civilian buy a quantum computer?",[15,41,42],{},"Yes, at three sizes: a teaching unit you can order, a processor module sold on a quote, and a full system.",[15,44,45,49],{},[46,47,48],"strong",{},"Teaching units."," SpinQ sells desktop machines built on nuclear magnetic resonance that run at room temperature: the Gemini Mini and Mini Pro with two qubits and the Triangulum with three. SpinQ's price guide puts this tier \"in the lower five-figure U.S. dollar range, depending on configuration and support offerings\", and in 2021 SpinQ announced a desktop unit planned at under $5,000. Two qubits is enough for a Bell state on a physical device on a desk, and SpinQ aims the tier at schools, universities and training programs.",[15,51,52,55],{},[46,53,54],{},"Processor modules."," Rigetti's Novera is a 9-qubit superconducting quantum processing unit (QPU), sold with a separate 5-qubit test chip; Rigetti asks buyers to allow four to six weeks for delivery once an order is confirmed and shipping is arranged. The package is the chips, the chip carrier, and the shielding, mounting and signalling hardware: everything that sits below the mixing chamber plate of a dilution refrigerator. The refrigerator itself, which keeps the chips near absolute zero, and the control electronics that drive them come from Rigetti's partners or your own lab, and the product page carries no price. SpinQ's guide places a standalone QPU \"in the five-figure to low six-figure\" bracket.",[15,57,58],{},"The one public figure for a whole Novera system is Rigetti's own: in September 2025 it announced purchase orders for two, about $5.7 million together, for delivery in the first half of 2026. The announcement does not say what each system includes.",[15,60,61,64],{},[46,62,63],{},"Full systems."," IBM's On-Prem Plan, a dedicated system serviced by IBM, lists \"price requires quote\". SpinQ's buying guide puts an IBM Quantum System One at ten to thirty million dollars, which is one vendor's estimate of another vendor's price, and SpinQ's own industrial tier sits \"in the mid to high tens of millions\".",[36,66,68],{"id":67},"what-renting-one-costs","What renting one costs",[15,70,71],{},"Providers sell hardware time in three units: the minute, the shot and the gate-shot. A shot is one run of the circuit ending in one measured result; a circuit is run for hundreds or thousands of shots because a single result is random. A gate-shot is one gate in one shot, so a circuit's gate count times its shots. IonQ's own cloud sells by quote.",[15,73,74],{},"The table prices the same two circuits on every route at 1,000 shots. The first is the two-qubit Bell state in the code below: one one-qubit gate, one two-qubit gate and two measurements. The second is the job IonQ uses as the worked example on its cost page, estimated for Forte Enterprise 1: 25 qubits, 400 one-qubit gates and 150 two-qubit gates, with error mitigation on. Where a rule forces a bigger task, the cell says so.",[76,77,78,97],"table",{},[79,80,81],"thead",{},[82,83,84,88,91,94],"tr",{},[85,86,87],"th",{},"Route",[85,89,90],{},"Unit",[85,92,93],{},"Bell state",[85,95,96],{},"25-qubit job",[98,99,100,115,129,143,156,170,184,197],"tbody",{},[82,101,102,106,109,112],{},[103,104,105],"td",{},"IBM · Open Plan",[103,107,108],{},"free minutes",[103,110,111],{},"$0, within the ten free minutes a month",[103,113,114],{},"$0",[82,116,117,120,123,126],{},[103,118,119],{},"IBM · Pay-As-You-Go",[103,121,122],{},"per second",[103,124,125],{},"from $1.60 a second ($96 a minute), for every second the job runs",[103,127,128],{},"the same rate; a bigger circuit runs longer",[82,130,131,134,137,140],{},[103,132,133],{},"Braket · IonQ Forte",[103,135,136],{},"per task + per shot",[103,138,139],{},"$80.30 ($0.30 a task + $80 for 1,000 shots); with error mitigation the task must carry 2,500 shots, $200.30",[103,141,142],{},"$80.30 or $200.30: the per-shot price is flat whatever the gate count",[82,144,145,148,150,153],{},[103,146,147],{},"Braket · Rigetti Cepheus",[103,149,136],{},[103,151,152],{},"$0.73 ($0.30 a task + $0.43 for 1,000 shots)",[103,154,155],{},"$0.73",[82,157,158,161,164,167],{},[103,159,160],{},"Azure · IonQ Forte 1",[103,162,163],{},"per gate-shot + a minimum",[103,165,166],{},"$1.29 in gate-shots + a $25.79 minimum, or $168.20 with error mitigation",[103,168,169],{},"$233.95 in gate-shots + the same minimum",[82,171,172,175,178,181],{},[103,173,174],{},"IonQ Cloud · direct",[103,176,177],{},"by quote",[103,179,180],{},"estimated at submission; a dry run returns the figure first",[103,182,183],{},"$233.75, IonQ's own estimate for Forte Enterprise 1 at standard rates, not binding",[82,185,186,189,192,194],{},[103,187,188],{},"Qollab · any simulator",[103,190,191],{},"free",[103,193,114],{},[103,195,196],{},"$0 on the Braket local, IBM noise-model and IonQ Forte simulators; 25 qubits is the Braket local simulator's ceiling and close to the Forte model's 29, where IonQ warns a run may fail",[82,198,199,202,205,208],{},[103,200,201],{},"Qollab · IonQ Forte 1",[103,203,204],{},"credits",[103,206,207],{},"quoted before you approve; a new account starts with 100 credits",[103,209,210],{},"quoted before you approve",[15,212,213],{},"Read the row for the service you would submit through; the simulator row is the only one that is not real hardware, and Azure adds its infrastructure costs on top of both IonQ figures. Per-shot billing on Braket prices the 550-gate job the same as the Bell state, gate-shot billing on Azure and on IonQ's cloud grows with the circuit, and per-second billing on IBM grows with the runtime, so the cheapest route depends on the shape of the job.",[15,215,216,217,221,222,225],{},"A per-job minimum is most of the price of a small circuit. Error mitigation, the setting that moves both minimums, is IonQ's debiasing (",[19,218,220],{"href":219},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Ferror-mitigation","error mitigation and debiasing"," explains it), on by default at 500 shots or more: on Azure it raises the program minimum from $25.79 to $168.20, and on Braket a mitigated IonQ task has to carry 2,500 shots, about two and a half times the price of the 1,000-shot one. A per-second or per-shot route with no floor is the cheaper one for a circuit this size. Every plan and rate, including the ones the table leaves out, is in the ",[19,223,224],{"href":32},"snapshot",".",[36,227,229],{"id":228},"how-to-run-one-free","How to run one free",[15,231,232,233,236],{},"On Qollab every simulator is free and only the quantum computers spend credits. Press ",[46,234,235],{},"Run",", pick a simulator, and the run costs nothing. Pick the IonQ Forte 1 quantum computer and the runner quotes the credit cost next to your balance, which starts at 100 credits on a new account, and asks before it spends above your allowance.",[15,238,239,240,244],{},"Several of the simulators carry the noise models of real machines. In the browser: a built-in simulator at 24 qubits, an AWS Braket local simulator at 25, and eight IBM noise-model simulators, six Heron devices at 156 qubits and two Nighthawk devices at 120. On IonQ's cloud: noise-model simulators of Forte 1 and Forte Enterprise 1 at 29 qubits. A run on the Forte model returns a preview built from that machine's noise model, which IonQ calls a simplified approximation of the hardware, and it tells you whether 100 shots resolves your answer or you need 1,000 before you spend anything. ",[19,241,243],{"href":242},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fcompute-backends","Compute backends"," lists every one. The circuit is the Bell state priced in the table:",[246,247,251],"code-block",{"name":248,"run-href":249,"tag":250},"bell_state.py","\u002Fu\u002Fqollab\u002Fbell-state","Python · Playground version",[252,253,258],"pre",{"className":254,"code":255,"language":256,"meta":257,"style":257},"language-python shiki shiki-themes one-dark-pro","# 'backend' is pre-created for you in the Qollab Playground.\nfrom qiskit import QuantumCircuit\n\nqc = QuantumCircuit(2, 2)\nqc.h(0)\nqc.cx(0, 1)\nqc.measure([0, 1], [0, 1])\n\njob = backend.run(qc, shots=1000)\ncounts = job.result().get_counts()\nprint(counts)\n","python","",[259,260,261,275,294,302,335,353,374,406,413,444,470,481],"code",{"__ignoreMap":257},[262,263,266,271],"span",{"class":264,"line":265},"line",1,[262,267,270],{"class":268,"aria-hidden":269},"qg-cue qg-cue--empty","true","​",[262,272,274],{"class":273},"sV9Aq","# 'backend' is pre-created for you in the Qollab Playground.\n",[262,276,278,280,284,288,291],{"class":264,"line":277},2,[262,279,270],{"class":268,"aria-hidden":269},[262,281,283],{"class":282},"seHd6","from",[262,285,287],{"class":286},"sn6KH"," qiskit ",[262,289,290],{"class":282},"import",[262,292,293],{"class":286}," QuantumCircuit\n",[262,295,297,299],{"class":264,"line":296},3,[262,298,270],{"class":268,"aria-hidden":269},[262,300,301],{},"​\n",[262,303,306,309,312,316,320,323,327,330,332],{"class":264,"data-cue":304,"line":305},"1",4,[262,307,304],{"class":308},"qg-cue",[262,310,311],{"class":286},"qc ",[262,313,315],{"class":314},"sjrmR","=",[262,317,319],{"class":318},"sVbv2"," QuantumCircuit",[262,321,322],{"class":286},"(",[262,324,326],{"class":325},"sVC51","2",[262,328,329],{"class":286},", ",[262,331,326],{"class":325},[262,333,334],{"class":286},")\n",[262,336,338,340,343,346,348,351],{"class":264,"data-cue":326,"line":337},5,[262,339,326],{"class":308},[262,341,342],{"class":286},"qc.",[262,344,345],{"class":318},"h",[262,347,322],{"class":286},[262,349,350],{"class":325},"0",[262,352,334],{"class":286},[262,354,357,359,361,364,366,368,370,372],{"class":264,"data-cue":355,"line":356},"3",6,[262,358,355],{"class":308},[262,360,342],{"class":286},[262,362,363],{"class":318},"cx",[262,365,322],{"class":286},[262,367,350],{"class":325},[262,369,329],{"class":286},[262,371,304],{"class":325},[262,373,334],{"class":286},[262,375,378,380,382,385,388,390,392,394,397,399,401,403],{"class":264,"data-cue":376,"line":377},"4",7,[262,379,376],{"class":308},[262,381,342],{"class":286},[262,383,384],{"class":318},"measure",[262,386,387],{"class":286},"([",[262,389,350],{"class":325},[262,391,329],{"class":286},[262,393,304],{"class":325},[262,395,396],{"class":286},"], [",[262,398,350],{"class":325},[262,400,329],{"class":286},[262,402,304],{"class":325},[262,404,405],{"class":286},"])\n",[262,407,409,411],{"class":264,"line":408},8,[262,410,270],{"class":268,"aria-hidden":269},[262,412,301],{},[262,414,417,419,422,424,427,430,433,437,439,442],{"class":264,"data-cue":415,"line":416},"5",9,[262,418,415],{"class":308},[262,420,421],{"class":286},"job ",[262,423,315],{"class":314},[262,425,426],{"class":286}," backend.",[262,428,429],{"class":318},"run",[262,431,432],{"class":286},"(qc, ",[262,434,436],{"class":435},"s_ZVi","shots",[262,438,315],{"class":314},[262,440,441],{"class":325},"1000",[262,443,334],{"class":286},[262,445,448,450,453,455,458,461,464,467],{"class":264,"data-cue":446,"line":447},"6",10,[262,449,446],{"class":308},[262,451,452],{"class":286},"counts ",[262,454,315],{"class":314},[262,456,457],{"class":286}," job.",[262,459,460],{"class":318},"result",[262,462,463],{"class":286},"().",[262,465,466],{"class":318},"get_counts",[262,468,469],{"class":286},"()\n",[262,471,473,475,478],{"class":264,"line":472},11,[262,474,270],{"class":268,"aria-hidden":269},[262,476,477],{"class":314},"print",[262,479,480],{"class":286},"(counts)\n",[482,483,485,494,501,508,515,522],"ol",{"class":484},"qg-cues",[486,487,488,490],"li",{"data-cue":304},[262,489,304],{"class":308},[262,491,493],{"class":492},"qg-cues__text","Two qubits and two ordinary bits to read the answers into.",[486,495,496,498],{"data-cue":326},[262,497,326],{"class":308},[262,499,500],{"class":492},"The one-qubit gate. Qubit 0 leaves with no fixed value.",[486,502,503,505],{"data-cue":355},[262,504,355],{"class":308},[262,506,507],{"class":492},"The two-qubit gate. Qubit 1 now follows qubit 0, whichever way it lands.",[486,509,510,512],{"data-cue":376},[262,511,376],{"class":308},[262,513,514],{"class":492},"Read both qubits into the two bits.",[486,516,517,519],{"data-cue":415},[262,518,415],{"class":308},[262,520,521],{"class":492},"Run the circuit 1,000 times on the backend you picked. Each run and its measured pair of bits is one shot, the unit the table prices.",[486,523,524,526],{"data-cue":446},[262,525,446],{"class":308},[262,527,528,529,532],{"class":492},"Tally the 1,000 results. ",[259,530,531],{},"{'00': 502, '11': 498}"," means 502 shots read 00 and 498 read 11; on hardware a few 01 and 10 appear, which is the noise.",[15,534,535,536,539],{},"The Run dialog lists the free simulators first and the quantum computers last. As of September 2026 the last group is IonQ Forte 1 and Forte Enterprise 1, 36 qubits each, and the dialog is the source of truth for which machine is online. Fork ",[19,537,538],{"href":249},"the Bell state",", press Run on the built-in simulator, and the counts come back in the console; when they look right, the same Run button puts it on Forte 1, and once the job finishes the runner reports the credits actually withdrawn, which can differ from the estimate.",[541,542],"blog-figure",{"alt":543,"caption":544,"src":545},"The Select QPU dialog open on its first group, Locally Run Simulators: a built-in simulator at 24 qubits, an AWS Braket local simulator at 25, and eight IBM noise-model simulators, every row marked Free.","The Run dialog on Qollab, open on its first group, the locally run simulators. The quantum computers are the last group in the same list.","\u002F_content\u002Fimages\u002Fdocs\u002Fselect-qpu.webp",[15,547,548,549,553],{},"The 100 starter credits are on the account before any application, and the runner shows an estimate of what a run will take from them before it spends. More come from the ",[19,550,552],{"href":551},"\u002Fprograms\u002Fcredits-grant","Qollab Grant Program",": port existing open-source quantum work or fork and extend a Qollab project for up to $10,000 in IonQ compute credits per project, or publish original work for up to $20,000. Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis, the team tells you where a proposal lands before you commit to the work, and the credits expire three months after they land.",[15,555,556],{},"Each provider has a free route of its own. IBM's Open Plan gives every account up to ten minutes of hardware runtime a month. Amazon Braket includes one hour of managed simulation a month for the first twelve months, IonQ's cloud simulators are free with an account, and Rigetti's QVM simulator is free on Azure under every plan.",[36,558,560],{"id":559},"what-building-one-costs","What building one costs",[15,562,563],{},"None of the vendors on this page publishes a price for building one. What is public is the parts list, and a framework for deciding which parts an institution needs. Alex Krasnok's procurement framework, published on arXiv in April 2026 as \"What quantum computer to buy?\", argues that the phrase hides several different purchases: cloud access for teaching, reserved capacity for research, a local instrument for hardware training, an optimization appliance, or a strategic installation. His conclusion is that most institutions should begin with the smallest layer of capability that produces repeatable near-term value, and that a large on-premises system is justified only when mission, site readiness, staffing, governance and upgrade paths are already clear.",[15,565,566],{},"Rigetti's Novera is the parts list in practice. The module is a quote and arrives in weeks; the refrigerator, the control electronics, the people who calibrate them and an upgrade path are the rest, and Rigetti sells the system as upgradeable. Its two orders of September 2025, about $5.7 million together and not itemised, are the one public figure for what a whole system costs.",[36,568,570],{"id":569},"is-there-a-1000-qubit-quantum-computer","Is there a 1,000-qubit quantum computer?",[15,572,573],{},"Yes. IBM's Condor processor, unveiled in December 2023, has 1,121 superconducting qubits. Atom Computing announced a 1,225-site atomic array holding 1,180 qubits in October 2023. In September 2025 a Caltech team reported a tweezer array of 6,100 atomic qubits, a research result; the group's stated next step is to entangle them.",[15,575,576],{},"The machines you can rent are smaller. IBM's fleet is built on processors of 100 or more qubits, IonQ's Forte systems hold 36, and Rigetti's Cepheus on Azure holds 108. Qubit count on its own says little about what a machine can compute.",[15,578,579],{},"On the day it unveiled Condor, IBM said its focus was moving from qubit count to error resistance, and the 133-qubit Heron it announced alongside had an error rate three times lower than its predecessor. Gate error is the number to read alongside qubit count: IonQ publishes it per backend as characterization data, and it decides how deep a circuit can go before noise dominates the output.",[36,581,583],{"id":582},"a-snapshot-september-2026","A snapshot, September 2026",[15,585,586],{},"Every provider price list on this page as read on 17 September 2026, with its source; press figures and quotations carry their own dates. Check the linked page before you plan a budget: prices in this market change between visits, and a pricing page can outlast the hardware it lists. IonQ's own backend list marks the Aria 1 and Aria 2 hardware as retired, while Azure's provider pricing page still carries Aria 1 rates.",[76,588,589,602],{},[79,590,591],{},[82,592,593,596,599],{},[85,594,595],{},"Source",[85,597,598],{},"Item",[85,600,601],{},"Price",[98,603,604,618,628,638,648,657,671,681,691,701,711,725,735,745,755,765,779,789,803,813,827,842,852,862,877,892,906,921,933,946],{},[82,605,606,612,615],{},[103,607,608],{},[19,609,611],{"href":610},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ibm.com\u002Fquantum\u002Fproducts","IBM Quantum",[103,613,614],{},"Open Plan",[103,616,617],{},"free, up to 10 minutes of runtime a month",[82,619,620,622,625],{},[103,621],{},[103,623,624],{},"Pay-As-You-Go",[103,626,627],{},"from $96 a minute, billed per second, 1-second minimum",[82,629,630,632,635],{},[103,631],{},[103,633,634],{},"Flex Plan",[103,636,637],{},"from $72 a minute, 400 minutes a year",[82,639,640,642,645],{},[103,641],{},[103,643,644],{},"Premium Plan",[103,646,647],{},"from $48 a minute, 5,200 minutes a year",[82,649,650,652,655],{},[103,651],{},[103,653,654],{},"On-Prem Plan",[103,656,177],{},[82,658,659,665,668],{},[103,660,661],{},[19,662,664],{"href":663},"https:\u002F\u002Faws.amazon.com\u002Fbraket\u002Fpricing\u002F","Amazon Braket",[103,666,667],{},"Per task",[103,669,670],{},"$0.30",[82,672,673,675,678],{},[103,674],{},[103,676,677],{},"Per shot",[103,679,680],{},"Rigetti Cepheus $0.000425 · IQM Garnet $0.00145 · IQM Emerald $0.0016 · QuEra Aquila $0.01 · AQT IBEX-Q1 $0.0235 · IonQ Forte $0.08",[82,682,683,685,688],{},[103,684],{},[103,686,687],{},"IonQ with error mitigation",[103,689,690],{},"2,500 shots minimum per task",[82,692,693,695,698],{},[103,694],{},[103,696,697],{},"Reservations",[103,699,700],{},"$2,500 to $7,000 an hour",[82,702,703,705,708],{},[103,704],{},[103,706,707],{},"SV1 simulator",[103,709,710],{},"$0.075 a minute; one hour of managed simulation a month free for the first 12 months",[82,712,713,719,722],{},[103,714,715],{},[19,716,718],{"href":717},"https:\u002F\u002Flearn.microsoft.com\u002Fen-us\u002Fazure\u002Fquantum\u002Fpricing","Azure Quantum",[103,720,721],{},"IonQ Forte 1, Forte Enterprise 1",[103,723,724],{},"$0.0001645 per one-qubit gate-shot, $0.001121 per two-qubit gate-shot; minimum per program $168.195 with error mitigation on, $25.7899 off; plus Azure infrastructure costs",[82,726,727,729,732],{},[103,728],{},[103,730,731],{},"IonQ Aria-Forte plan",[103,733,734],{},"$25,000 a month, plus Azure infrastructure costs",[82,736,737,739,742],{},[103,738],{},[103,740,741],{},"Quantinuum",[103,743,744],{},"Standard $125,000 a month for 10,000 HQCs (hardware quantum credits, Quantinuum's job unit); Premium $175,000 for 17,000; plus infrastructure costs",[82,746,747,749,752],{},[103,748],{},[103,750,751],{},"Rigetti Cepheus-1-108Q",[103,753,754],{},"$0.02 per 10-millisecond increment of execution time",[82,756,757,759,762],{},[103,758],{},[103,760,761],{},"Pasqal",[103,763,764],{},"EUR 3,000 per QPU-hour, plus infrastructure costs",[82,766,767,773,776],{},[103,768,769],{},[19,770,772],{"href":771},"https:\u002F\u002Fionq.com\u002Fquantum-cloud","IonQ Quantum Cloud",[103,774,775],{},"Simulators",[103,777,778],{},"free with an account",[82,780,781,783,786],{},[103,782],{},[103,784,785],{},"QPU access",[103,787,788],{},"volume-based pricing by quote; Research Credits up to $10,000 for academic researchers",[82,790,791,797,800],{},[103,792,793],{},[19,794,796],{"href":795},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.ionq.com\u002Fguides\u002Fjob-cost-and-usage","IonQ job cost guide",[103,798,799],{},"Sizing",[103,801,802],{},"one-qubit gates, two-qubit gates and shots; a per-circuit minimum on small jobs, lower with debiasing off; debiasing on by default at 500 shots or more; a dry run returns an estimate",[82,804,805,807,810],{},[103,806],{},[103,808,809],{},"Worked example",[103,811,812],{},"25 qubits, 400 1Q gates, 150 2Q gates, 1,000 shots, error mitigation on: $233.75 estimated for Forte Enterprise 1 at standard rates, not binding",[82,814,815,821,824],{},[103,816,817],{},[19,818,820],{"href":819},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.ionq.com\u002Fuser-manual\u002Fbackends","IonQ backends",[103,822,823],{},"Hardware",[103,825,826],{},"Forte 1 and Forte Enterprise 1, 36 qubits, available; Aria 1, Aria 2 and Harmony retired",[82,828,829,836,839],{},[103,830,831,835],{},[19,832,834],{"href":833},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.spinq.com\u002Fen\u002Fnews-detail\u002Fquantum-computers-cost-price-guide-factors-and-spinq-solutions","SpinQ price guide",", August 2025",[103,837,838],{},"Educational systems",[103,840,841],{},"\"in the lower five-figure U.S. dollar range\"",[82,843,844,846,849],{},[103,845],{},[103,847,848],{},"Standalone QPUs",[103,850,851],{},"\"five-figure to low six-figure\"",[82,853,854,856,859],{},[103,855],{},[103,857,858],{},"Industrial systems",[103,860,861],{},"\"mid to high tens of millions\"",[82,863,864,871,874],{},[103,865,866,870],{},[19,867,869],{"href":868},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.spinq.com\u002Fnews-detail\u002Fwhere-to-buy-a-quantum-computer-top-options-explained20250122054251","SpinQ, Where to Buy a Quantum Computer",", January 2025",[103,872,873],{},"IBM Quantum System One",[103,875,876],{},"ten to thirty million dollars, SpinQ's estimate",[82,878,879,886,889],{},[103,880,881,885],{},[19,882,884],{"href":883},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.discovermagazine.com\u002Fa-desktop-quantum-computer-for-just-usd5-000-42198","Discover",", January 2021",[103,887,888],{},"SpinQ desktop unit announced for 2021",[103,890,891],{},"planned at under $5,000",[82,893,894,900,903],{},[103,895,896],{},[19,897,899],{"href":898},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.rigetti.com\u002Fnovera","Rigetti Novera",[103,901,902],{},"9-qubit QPU with a 5-qubit test chip",[103,904,905],{},"price on request; all hardware below the mixing chamber plate of a dilution refrigerator (plate of 290 mm or more); allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery once an order is confirmed and shipping is arranged",[82,907,908,915,918],{},[103,909,910,914],{},[19,911,913],{"href":912},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.rigetti.com\u002Fnews\u002Frigetti-announces-purchase-orders-for-two-quantum-computing-systems-totaling-approximately-5-7-million","Rigetti news",", 30 September 2025",[103,916,917],{},"Two Novera systems",[103,919,920],{},"purchase orders of about $5.7 million together, delivery in the first half of 2026",[82,922,923,928,930],{},[103,924,925],{},[19,926,927],{"href":242},"Qollab compute backends",[103,929,775],{},[103,931,932],{},"free: built-in (24 qubits), Braket local (25), eight IBM noise models (156 and 120), IonQ Forte 1 and Forte Enterprise 1 noise models (29)",[82,934,935,941,943],{},[103,936,937],{},[19,938,940],{"href":939},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fhow-credits-work","Qollab, how credits work",[103,942,721],{},[103,944,945],{},"credits, quoted before the run; 100 credits on a new account",[82,947,948,952,955],{},[103,949,950],{},[19,951,552],{"href":551},[103,953,954],{},"Compute credits",[103,956,957],{},"up to $10,000 per project for a port or a fork, up to $20,000 for original work",[15,959,960,961,965,966,970,971,975,976,225],{},"Qubit counts: IBM Condor 1,121 (",[19,962,964],{"href":963},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.scientificamerican.com\u002Farticle\u002Fibm-releases-first-ever-1-000-qubit-quantum-chip\u002F","Scientific American, December 2023","); Atom Computing 1,180 (",[19,967,969],{"href":968},"https:\u002F\u002Fatom-computing.com\u002Fquantum-startup-atom-computing-first-to-exceed-1000-qubits\u002F","announcement, October 2023","); Caltech 6,100 (",[19,972,974],{"href":973},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.caltech.edu\u002Fabout\u002Fnews\u002Fcaltech-team-sets-record-with-6100-qubit-array","news release, September 2025","). Procurement framework: ",[19,977,979],{"href":978},"https:\u002F\u002Farxiv.org\u002Fabs\u002F2604.04761","Krasnok, arXiv:2604.04761, April 2026",[36,981,983],{"id":982},"related","Related",[985,986,987,992,996,1002],"ul",{},[486,988,989],{},[19,990,991],{"href":939},"How credits work",[486,993,994],{},[19,995,243],{"href":242},[486,997,998],{},[19,999,1001],{"href":1000},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits","Before you spend credits",[486,1003,1004],{},[19,1005,552],{"href":551},[1007,1008,1009],"style",{},"html pre.shiki code .sV9Aq, html code.shiki .sV9Aq{--shiki-default:#7F848E;--shiki-default-font-style:italic}html pre.shiki code .seHd6, html code.shiki .seHd6{--shiki-default:#C678DD}html pre.shiki code .sn6KH, html code.shiki .sn6KH{--shiki-default:#ABB2BF}html pre.shiki code .sjrmR, html code.shiki .sjrmR{--shiki-default:#56B6C2}html pre.shiki code .sVbv2, html code.shiki .sVbv2{--shiki-default:#61AFEF}html pre.shiki code .sVC51, html code.shiki .sVC51{--shiki-default:#D19A66}html pre.shiki code .s_ZVi, html code.shiki .s_ZVi{--shiki-default:#E06C75;--shiki-default-font-style:italic}html .default .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}html .shiki span {color: var(--shiki-default);background: var(--shiki-default-bg);font-style: var(--shiki-default-font-style);font-weight: var(--shiki-default-font-weight);text-decoration: var(--shiki-default-text-decoration);}",{"title":257,"searchDepth":277,"depth":277,"links":1011},[1012,1013,1014,1015,1016,1017,1018],{"id":38,"depth":277,"text":39},{"id":67,"depth":277,"text":68},{"id":228,"depth":277,"text":229},{"id":559,"depth":277,"text":560},{"id":569,"depth":277,"text":570},{"id":582,"depth":277,"text":583},{"id":982,"depth":277,"text":983},[1020,1021,1022],"Qollab","Explore","Buy a quantum computer",[],{"username":7,"name":1025,"role":1026,"avatar":1027},"Nicolaas Spijker","Community manager, Qollab","\u002F_content\u002Fimages\u002Fbuilders\u002Fnicolaas-spijker.webp",null,"What a quantum computer costs to buy, what a minute, a shot or a gate-shot costs to rent, and how to run a real one free, with every price dated.","What a quantum computer costs to buy, what a minute or a shot costs to rent on IBM, Braket, Azure and IonQ, and how to run a real one free. Every price dated.",false,"md","article",{},true,"\u002F_content\u002Fimages\u002Fbuy-a-quantum-computer\u002Fog.png","\u002Fblog\u002Fbuy-a-quantum-computer","2026-09-18","8 min read",[],"guides",{"title":1043,"description":1030},"How Much Does a Quantum Computer Cost? 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