Google Willow vs IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 Specs, Pricing & Performance [2026]
Quick Verdict
Google Willow uses Superconducting while IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 uses Trapped Ion technology. Google Willow leads on 2Q gate fidelity (99.88%). Google Willow offers more physical qubits (105 qubits). IonQ Forte Enterprise 1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation.
Specification Comparison
| Metric | Google Willow | IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Qubits | 105 ✓ | 36 |
| Technology | Superconducting | Trapped Ion |
| 2Q Gate Fidelity | 99.88% ✓ | 99.70% |
| 1Q Gate Fidelity | 99.97% ✓ | 99.95% |
| Readout Fidelity | 99.90% ✓ | 99.85% |
| Quantum Volume | — | 65,536 ✓ |
| CLOPS | 100,000 ✓ | 200 |
| T1 (Relaxation) | 100 µs | 1000 ms ✓ |
| T2 (Dephasing) | 80 µs | 10 ms ✓ |
| 1Q Gate Time | 25 ns ✓ | 135 µs |
| 2Q Gate Time | 68 ns ✓ | 600 µs |
| Connectivity | Grid (deg 4) | All-to-All (deg 35) |
| Max Circuit Depth | 1,000 ✓ | 500 |
| Max Shots | 1,000,000 ✓ | 10,000 |
| Dynamic Circuits | No | Yes |
| Error Mitigation | Available | Available |
| Cloud Platforms | 0 platforms | 4 platforms |
Green bold values with a checkmark indicate the better result for each metric.
Pricing Comparison
Example: 10-qubit, 50-depth circuit, 1,000 shots — estimated cost on cheapest platform: Google Willow: N/A vs IonQ Forte Enterprise 1: $30.30
Superconducting Google Willow
Trapped Ion IonQ Forte Enterprise 1
| Platform | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Best Amazon Braket | $0.0300/shot | Available |
| Azure Quantum | $0.000970/AQT | Available |
| IonQ Quantum Cloud | $0.000970/AQT | Available |
| qBraid | $0.0300/shot | Available |
Superconducting vs Trapped Ion: Technology Tradeoffs
- Advantage
- Fast gate speeds (tens to hundreds of nanoseconds), mature fabrication technology using standard semiconductor processes, and strong industry investment make this the most commercially advanced platform.
- Challenge
- Requires dilution refrigerators operating near absolute zero (~15 mK), leading to large physical footprints and high infrastructure costs. Qubits are sensitive to noise, limiting coherence times to microseconds-to-milliseconds range.
- Gate Speed
- 10–700 ns per gate
- Fidelity
- 99.5–99.9% for 2-qubit gates
- Advantage
- Exceptional gate fidelities (99.9%+), long coherence times (seconds to hours), and native all-to-all qubit connectivity eliminate the need for SWAP routing that limits other architectures.
- Challenge
- Gate operations are slow (microseconds to milliseconds), limiting circuit throughput. Scaling to many ions in a single trap is difficult due to spectral crowding; modular trap architectures are being developed to address this.
- Gate Speed
- 1 µs – 1 ms per gate
- Fidelity
- 99.7–99.99% for 2-qubit gates
Use Case Recommendations
Higher 2Q gate fidelity (99.88%) means fewer errors in VQE/UCCSD circuits.
All-to-all connectivity maps optimization problems directly without SWAP overhead.
Higher CLOPS (100,000) means faster circuit execution for high-repetition workloads.
Supports dynamic circuits and mid-circuit measurement required for active error correction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Google Willow and IonQ Forte Enterprise 1?
Google Willow uses Superconducting while IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 uses Trapped Ion technology. Google Willow leads on 2Q gate fidelity (99.88%). Google Willow offers more physical qubits (105 qubits). IonQ Forte Enterprise 1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation. These QPUs use fundamentally different qubit technologies: Superconducting vs Trapped Ion.
Which is better for quantum chemistry, Google Willow or IonQ Forte Enterprise 1?
For quantum chemistry simulations (VQE, UCCSD), Google Willow is preferred due to its higher 2Q gate fidelity (99.88% vs 99.70%). Higher gate fidelity directly reduces circuit error rates in chemistry algorithms.
How do the prices compare between Google Willow and IonQ Forte Enterprise 1?
Google Willow is available from no public cloud access. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 is available from $0.0300/shot on Amazon Braket. Note that pricing models differ — per-shot pricing is directly comparable while AQT and HQC models depend on circuit structure.
Which QPU has better connectivity, Google Willow or IonQ Forte Enterprise 1?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 offers all-to-all connectivity, meaning any qubit can directly interact with any other. This eliminates the need for SWAP gates during compilation. Google Willow uses Grid connectivity.
What are the coherence times for Google Willow vs IonQ Forte Enterprise 1?
Google Willow: T1=100 µs, T2=80 µs. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1: T1=1000 ms, T2=10 ms. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 has longer coherence times, which generally allows for deeper circuits before errors accumulate.
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