IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 vs QuEra Aquila Specs, Pricing & Performance [2026]
Quick Verdict
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 uses Trapped Ion while QuEra Aquila uses Neutral Atom technology. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 leads on 2Q gate fidelity (99.70%). QuEra Aquila offers more physical qubits (256 qubits). IonQ Forte Enterprise 1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation.
Specification Comparison
| Metric | IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 | QuEra Aquila |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Qubits | 36 | 256 ✓ |
| Technology | Trapped Ion | Neutral Atom |
| 2Q Gate Fidelity | 99.70% ✓ | 99.50% |
| 1Q Gate Fidelity | 99.95% ✓ | — |
| Readout Fidelity | 99.85% ✓ | 99.00% |
| Quantum Volume | 65,536 ✓ | — |
| CLOPS | 200 ✓ | 10 |
| T1 (Relaxation) | 1000 ms ✓ | 5 ms |
| T2 (Dephasing) | 10 ms ✓ | 1.5 ms |
| 1Q Gate Time | 135 µs ✓ | — |
| 2Q Gate Time | 600 µs | 500 µs ✓ |
| Connectivity | All-to-All (deg 35) | Custom |
| Max Circuit Depth | 500 ✓ | 100 |
| Max Shots | 10,000 ✓ | 1,000 |
| Dynamic Circuits | Yes | No |
| Error Mitigation | Available | No |
| Cloud Platforms | 4 platforms | 2 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 QuEra Aquila: $10.30
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 |
Neutral Atom QuEra Aquila
| Platform | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Best Amazon Braket | $0.0100/shot | Available |
| qBraid | $0.0100/shot | Available |
Trapped Ion vs Neutral Atom: 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
- Large qubit counts (100–10,000+ atoms in reconfigurable arrays), programmable connectivity via atom repositioning, and operation at room temperature (atoms laser-cooled to µK). Naturally suited to analog quantum simulation.
- Challenge
- Gate fidelities are lower than trapped-ion systems, coherence times are shorter, and mid-circuit measurement and classical feedback are still maturing. Rydberg blockade errors limit 2-qubit gate fidelity.
- Gate Speed
- 0.1 µs – 1 ms per gate
- Fidelity
- 98–99.5% for 2-qubit gates
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 QuEra Aquila?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 uses Trapped Ion while QuEra Aquila uses Neutral Atom technology. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 leads on 2Q gate fidelity (99.70%). QuEra Aquila offers more physical qubits (256 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 Neutral Atom.
Which is better for quantum chemistry, IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 or QuEra Aquila?
For quantum chemistry simulations (VQE, UCCSD), IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 is preferred due to its higher 2Q gate fidelity (99.70% vs 99.50%). Higher gate fidelity directly reduces circuit error rates in chemistry algorithms.
How do the prices compare between IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 and QuEra Aquila?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 is available from $0.0300/shot on Amazon Braket. QuEra Aquila is available from $0.0100/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, IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 or QuEra Aquila?
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. QuEra Aquila uses Custom connectivity.
What are the coherence times for IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 vs QuEra Aquila?
IonQ Forte Enterprise 1: T1=1000 ms, T2=10 ms. QuEra Aquila: T1=5 ms, T2=1.5 ms. IonQ Forte Enterprise 1 has longer coherence times, which generally allows for deeper circuits before errors accumulate.
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