Quantinuum H2-1 vs Rigetti Ankaa-3 Specs, Pricing & Performance [2026]
Quick Verdict
Quantinuum H2-1 uses Trapped Ion while Rigetti Ankaa-3 uses Superconducting technology. Quantinuum H2-1 leads on 2Q gate fidelity (99.91%). Rigetti Ankaa-3 offers more physical qubits (84 qubits). Quantinuum H2-1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation.
Specification Comparison
| Metric | Quantinuum H2-1 | Rigetti Ankaa-3 |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Qubits | 56 | 84 ✓ |
| Technology | Trapped Ion | Superconducting |
| 2Q Gate Fidelity | 99.91% ✓ | 99.50% |
| 1Q Gate Fidelity | 99.99% ✓ | 99.90% |
| Readout Fidelity | 99.97% ✓ | 98.50% |
| Quantum Volume | 65,536 ✓ | 128 |
| CLOPS | 50 | 15,000 ✓ |
| T1 (Relaxation) | 5000 ms ✓ | 80 µs |
| T2 (Dephasing) | 50 ms ✓ | 60 µs |
| 1Q Gate Time | 10 µs | 40 ns ✓ |
| 2Q Gate Time | 1000 µs | 80 ns ✓ |
| Connectivity | All-to-All (deg 55) | Grid (deg 4) |
| Max Circuit Depth | 1,000 | 2,000 ✓ |
| Max Shots | 10,000 | 100,000 ✓ |
| Dynamic Circuits | Yes | No |
| Error Mitigation | Available | Available |
| Cloud Platforms | 4 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: Quantinuum H2-1: $368.50 vs Rigetti Ankaa-3: $1.00
Trapped Ion Quantinuum H2-1
| Platform | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Quantum | $275.00/HQC | Available |
| Strangeworks | $300.00/HQC | Limited |
| Best Azure Quantum | $5.50/HQC | Available |
| qBraid | $275.00/HQC | Limited |
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 |
Trapped Ion vs Superconducting: 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
- 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 (99.91%) means fewer errors in VQE/UCCSD circuits.
All-to-all connectivity maps optimization problems directly without SWAP overhead.
Higher CLOPS (15,000) 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 Quantinuum H2-1 and Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Quantinuum H2-1 uses Trapped Ion while Rigetti Ankaa-3 uses Superconducting technology. Quantinuum H2-1 leads on 2Q gate fidelity (99.91%). Rigetti Ankaa-3 offers more physical qubits (84 qubits). Quantinuum H2-1's all-to-all connectivity eliminates SWAP overhead in circuit compilation. These QPUs use fundamentally different qubit technologies: Trapped Ion vs Superconducting.
Which is better for quantum chemistry, Quantinuum H2-1 or Rigetti Ankaa-3?
For quantum chemistry simulations (VQE, UCCSD), Quantinuum H2-1 is preferred due to its higher 2Q gate fidelity (99.91% vs 99.50%). Higher gate fidelity directly reduces circuit error rates in chemistry algorithms.
How do the prices compare between Quantinuum H2-1 and Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Quantinuum H2-1 is available from $5.50/HQC on Azure Quantum. 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, Quantinuum H2-1 or Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Quantinuum H2-1 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. Rigetti Ankaa-3 uses Grid connectivity.
What are the coherence times for Quantinuum H2-1 vs Rigetti Ankaa-3?
Quantinuum H2-1: T1=5000 ms, T2=50 ms. Rigetti Ankaa-3: T1=80 µs, T2=60 µs. Quantinuum H2-1 has longer coherence times, which generally allows for deeper circuits before errors accumulate.
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