[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":166},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-docs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits":3,"sibling-dives-docs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits":164,"learn-track-docs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits":165},{"id":4,"title":5,"authors":6,"body":7,"breadcrumb":6,"builders":6,"byline":6,"category":147,"categoryName":148,"challenge":6,"courseAuthor":6,"courseLead":6,"dek":6,"description":149,"draft":150,"extension":151,"eyebrow":6,"featured":150,"finish":6,"fork":6,"hero":6,"heroAlt":6,"heroCta":6,"heroImage":6,"homepageFeatured":150,"kind":152,"lessonCount":6,"meta":153,"navigation":154,"newsItems":6,"next":6,"ogImage":6,"order":140,"outcomes":6,"path":155,"publishDate":156,"readingTime":6,"related":157,"relatedProjects":6,"seo":158,"stem":161,"tags":162,"track":6,"trackName":6,"__hash__":163},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits.md","Before you spend credits",null,{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":138},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,25,29,32,35,44,48,60,63,71,75,78,89,101,105,125],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Every simulator on Qollab is free and only the quantum computers spend credits, so the run that costs something is worth four checks first. IonQ publishes a submission checklist for their own users; this is the same sequence for a platform where the API key and the account belong to Qollab.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"_1-get-the-circuit-right-on-the-built-in-simulator","1. Get the circuit right on the built-in simulator",[11,20,21],{},"The built-in simulator is free, runs in your browser, and never queues. It catches the things that have nothing to do with quantum mechanics: a syntax error, a qubit index out of range, a measurement you forgot to add.",[11,23,24],{},"It also confirms the circuit compiles at all. IonQ's own first checklist item is to test on their ideal simulator for exactly this reason, and the built-in simulator fills that role here.",[15,26,28],{"id":27},"_2-size-your-shots-on-a-noise-model-simulator","2. Size your shots on a noise-model simulator",[11,30,31],{},"Getting a correct circuit is not the same as knowing how many shots you need. That answer depends on noise, and the built-in simulator has none.",[11,33,34],{},"Run it again on an IonQ remote simulator, which carries the noise model of the machine you are aiming at. The distribution you get back is a realistic preview, and it tells you whether 100 shots resolves your answer or whether you need 1,000.",[11,36,37,38,43],{},"Two things to know before you do. It is slower than the built-in simulator, because noise-model simulation is shot-aware: IonQ runs one simulation for every shot you request, so a large shot count means many simulations. And it is still a model: IonQ is explicit that you should not expect QPU results to match noisy simulation results quantitatively. Those models are simplified approximations of what hardware would do, not a replacement for running on it. See ",[39,40,42],"a",{"href":41},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fcompute-backends","Compute backends",".",[15,45,47],{"id":46},"_3-check-the-machine-is-online","3. Check the machine is online",[11,49,50,51,55,56,43],{},"Hardware is not always available. A backend that is down shows as offline in the ",[52,53,54],"strong",{},"Select QPU"," dialog, and IonQ publishes maintenance and availability at ",[39,57,59],{"href":58},"https:\u002F\u002Fstatus.ionq.co","status.ionq.co",[11,61,62],{},"What the dialog does not tell you is how long the line is. It says a machine is available, not how many jobs are ahead of you, so the queue is invisible at the moment you are choosing.",[11,64,65,66,70],{},"It stops being invisible once you submit. While a hardware job waits, the run console prints IonQ's own predicted waiting time for that circuit, so the estimate arrives after the decision rather than before it. Plan for a hardware run to resolve on its own schedule, and see ",[39,67,69],{"href":68},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Frun-your-code","Running your code"," for the job states you will pass through.",[15,72,74],{"id":73},"_4-confirm-the-price","4. Confirm the price",[11,76,77],{},"Qollab asks before it spends. The runner shows the cost in credits next to your balance and waits for you to approve; decline and nothing is charged.",[11,79,80,81,84,85,88],{},"Two details matter. The figure quoted before the run is usually an ",[52,82,83],{},"estimate",", and once the job finishes the runner replaces it with the ",[52,86,87],{},"actual credits withdrawn",", which can differ. And the allowance that decides whether you are asked at all lives in the runner, not in your profile settings, starting at a tenth of your balance and editable before you run.",[11,90,91,92,96,97,43],{},"If the estimate is higher than you expected, the usual causes are shot count and a circuit that compiled larger than you wrote it. See ",[39,93,95],{"href":94},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fhow-credits-work","How credits work"," and ",[39,98,100],{"href":99},"\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fhow-your-circuit-is-compiled","How your circuit is compiled",[15,102,104],{"id":103},"related","Related",[106,107,108,113,117,121],"ul",{},[109,110,111],"li",{},[39,112,95],{"href":94},[109,114,115],{},[39,116,42],{"href":41},[109,118,119],{},[39,120,69],{"href":68},[109,122,123],{},[39,124,100],{"href":99},[11,126,127,128,132,133,137],{},"The checklist this page adapts is IonQ's ",[39,129,131],{"href":130},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.ionq.com\u002Fguides\u002Fqpu-submission-checklist","QPU submission checklist",", and the simulation caveats are from their ",[39,134,136],{"href":135},"https:\u002F\u002Fdocs.ionq.com\u002Ffeatures\u002Fsimulation-with-noise-models","noise model guide",". Both are the source of truth. Crawled 2026-09-09.",{"title":139,"searchDepth":140,"depth":140,"links":141},"",2,[142,143,144,145,146],{"id":17,"depth":140,"text":18},{"id":27,"depth":140,"text":28},{"id":46,"depth":140,"text":47},{"id":73,"depth":140,"text":74},{"id":103,"depth":140,"text":104},"credits","Credits","The checks worth making before a hardware run: get it right on the built-in simulator, size your shots on a noise model, confirm the machine is online, then approve the price.",false,"md","doc",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits","2026-09-09",[],{"title":159,"description":160},"Before you spend credits · Qollab docs","What to check before running on IonQ hardware from Qollab: simulator verification, shot count, system status, and the cost confirmation.","blog\u002Flearn\u002Fdocs\u002Fbefore-you-spend-credits",[],"nxcSb3CN69Vp2NHld2uWk4QetnfDqDqfZ0XORWb1qB0",[],[],1788994898757]