IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 vs Microsoft Majorana 1 Specs, Pricing & Performance [2026]
Quick Verdict
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 uses Trapped Ion while Microsoft Majorana 1 uses Topological technology. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 offers more physical qubits (36 qubits). IonQ Forte Enterprise 1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation.
Specification Comparison
| Metric | IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 | Microsoft Majorana 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Qubits | 36 ✓ | 8 |
| Technology | Trapped Ion | Topological |
| 2Q Gate Fidelity | 99.70% ✓ | — |
| 1Q Gate Fidelity | 99.95% ✓ | — |
| Readout Fidelity | 99.85% ✓ | — |
| Quantum Volume | 65,536 ✓ | — |
| CLOPS | 200 ✓ | — |
| T1 (Relaxation) | 1000 ms ✓ | — |
| T2 (Dephasing) | 10 ms ✓ | — |
| 1Q Gate Time | 135 µs ✓ | — |
| 2Q Gate Time | 600 µs ✓ | — |
| Connectivity | All-to-All (deg 35) | Linear (deg 2) |
| Max Circuit Depth | 500 ✓ | — |
| Max Shots | 10,000 ✓ | — |
| Dynamic Circuits | Yes | No |
| Error Mitigation | Available | No |
| Cloud Platforms | 4 platforms | 0 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: IonQ Forte Enterprise 1: $30.30 vs Microsoft Majorana 1: N/A
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 |
Topological Microsoft Majorana 1
Trapped Ion vs Topological: Technology Tradeoffs
- 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
- Advantage
- Topological protection could dramatically reduce the error rate per physical qubit, potentially enabling fault-tolerant quantum computing with far fewer physical qubits than other approaches.
- Challenge
- The technology is still in early experimental stages. Majorana zero modes have only recently been demonstrated in simplified devices. Implementing two-qubit gates between topological qubits and scaling the architecture remain unsolved engineering challenges.
- Gate Speed
- Not yet characterized at scale
- Fidelity
- Not yet characterized at scale
Use Case Recommendations
Higher 2Q gate fidelity (99.70%) means fewer errors in VQE/UCCSD circuits.
All-to-all connectivity maps optimization problems directly without SWAP overhead.
Higher CLOPS (200) means faster circuit execution for high-repetition workloads.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 and Microsoft Majorana 1?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 uses Trapped Ion while Microsoft Majorana 1 uses Topological technology. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 offers more physical qubits (36 qubits). IonQ Forte Enterprise 1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation. These QPUs use fundamentally different qubit technologies: Trapped Ion vs Topological.
Which is better for quantum chemistry, IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 or Microsoft Majorana 1?
For quantum chemistry, gate fidelity is the most critical metric. Compare the 2Q gate fidelity figures in the spec table above to determine which QPU is better suited for your chemistry workload.
How do the prices compare between IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 and Microsoft Majorana 1?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 is available from $0.0300/shot on Amazon Braket. Microsoft Majorana 1 is available from no public cloud access. 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, IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 or Microsoft Majorana 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, which is a significant advantage for algorithms like QAOA. Microsoft Majorana 1 uses Linear connectivity.
What are the coherence times for IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 vs Microsoft Majorana 1?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1: T1=1000 ms, T2=10 ms.
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