Microsoft Majorana 1 vs Rigetti Ankaa-3 Specs, Pricing & Performance [2026]
Quick Verdict
Microsoft Majorana 1 uses Topological while Rigetti Ankaa-3 uses Superconducting technology. Rigetti Ankaa-3 offers more physical qubits (84 qubits).
Specification Comparison
| Metric | Microsoft Majorana 1 | Rigetti Ankaa-3 |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Qubits | 8 | 84 ✓ |
| Technology | Topological | Superconducting |
| 2Q Gate Fidelity | — | 99.50% ✓ |
| 1Q Gate Fidelity | — | 99.90% ✓ |
| Readout Fidelity | — | 98.50% ✓ |
| Quantum Volume | — | 128 ✓ |
| CLOPS | — | 15,000 ✓ |
| T1 (Relaxation) | — | 80 µs ✓ |
| T2 (Dephasing) | — | 60 µs ✓ |
| 1Q Gate Time | — | 40 ns ✓ |
| 2Q Gate Time | — | 80 ns ✓ |
| Connectivity | Linear (deg 2) | Grid (deg 4) |
| Max Circuit Depth | — | 2,000 ✓ |
| Max Shots | — | 100,000 ✓ |
| Dynamic Circuits | No | No |
| Error Mitigation | No | Available |
| Cloud Platforms | 0 platforms | 5 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: Microsoft Majorana 1: N/A vs Rigetti Ankaa-3: $1.00
Topological Microsoft Majorana 1
Superconducting Rigetti Ankaa-3
| Platform | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Braket | $0.000900/shot | Available |
| Azure Quantum | $0.000970/shot | Available |
| Best Rigetti QCS | $0.000750/shot | Available |
| qBraid | $0.000900/shot | Available |
| Strangeworks | $0.000900/shot | Available |
Topological vs Superconducting: Technology Tradeoffs
- 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
- 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
Use Case Recommendations
Higher 2Q gate fidelity (99.50%) means fewer errors in VQE/UCCSD circuits.
More qubits (84 qubits) allows encoding larger problem instances.
Higher CLOPS (15,000) means faster circuit execution for high-repetition workloads.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Microsoft Majorana 1 and Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Microsoft Majorana 1 uses Topological while Rigetti Ankaa-3 uses Superconducting technology. Rigetti Ankaa-3 offers more physical qubits (84 qubits). These QPUs use fundamentally different qubit technologies: Topological vs Superconducting.
Which is better for quantum chemistry, Microsoft Majorana 1 or Rigetti Ankaa-3?
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 Microsoft Majorana 1 and Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Microsoft Majorana 1 is available from no public cloud access. Rigetti Ankaa-3 is available from $0.000750/shot on Rigetti QCS. 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, Microsoft Majorana 1 or Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Microsoft Majorana 1 uses Linear connectivity (degree 2) while Rigetti Ankaa-3 uses Grid connectivity (degree 4).
What are the coherence times for Microsoft Majorana 1 vs Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Rigetti Ankaa-3: T1=80 µs, T2=60 µs.
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