Reference information sourced from the top quantum software companies and quantum-vendor directory at Entangled Future and up to date quarterly.
Key takeaways
- The 4 canonical SDKs are Qiskit (IBM), Cirq (Google), PennyLane (Xanadu), and tket (Quantinuum). Every is the canonical compilation layer for its mum or dad {hardware} firm.
- Three cloud platforms combination the majority of business quantum-hardware entry: IBM Quantum Platform, AWS Amazon Braket, and Microsoft Azure Quantum.
- Compilers, middleware, and management are the next-most-funded class. Classiq ($200M+), Quantum Machines ($280M+), Riverlane ($195M+), and Q-CTRL ($190M+) lead by capital raised.
- Software software program is consolidating round chemistry (Algorithmiq, Phasecraft, Quantistry), finance (Multiverse, QC Ware), and supplies science.
- Multi-vendor abstraction layers like Strangeworks let enterprises combine {hardware} suppliers with out committing to a single stack.
SDKs and Frameworks SDK
Open-source quantum software program improvement kits and frameworks. Every entry beneath is recognized by its bundle identify and the language ecosystem it targets, not by its mum or dad firm. The packages cowl circuit development, simulation, {hardware} execution, and area libraries for chemistry, finance, machine studying, and optimisation.
Qiskit
Constructed by IBM Quantum 🇺🇸
Est. 2017
SDK
Packages and options: qiskit (core), qiskit-aer (simulator), qiskit-ibm-runtime (cloud), qiskit-optimization, qiskit-machine-learning, qiskit-nature, qiskit-finance. OpenQASM 3.0 suitable. C API for HPC since 2.3.
Newest: January 2026: Qiskit 2.3 launched with expanded C API and 83x quicker transpilation than tket 2.6.0.
Essentially the most-installed quantum SDK, the de facto instructing instrument in college quantum-computing programs, and the canonical compilation layer for IBM {hardware}. Sampler and Estimator primitives are the manufacturing interface for circuit execution at scale.
Cirq
Constructed by Google Quantum AI 🇺🇸
Est. 2018
SDK
Packages and options: cirq-core, cirq-google (Sycamore + Willow), cirq-aqt, cirq-ionq, cirq-pasqal, cirq-rigetti, cirq-ft. Contains the Quirk circuit visualiser and TensorFlow Quantum integration for hybrid QC-ML.
Newest: October 2025: Cirq powered the Quantum Echoes algorithm announcement, reporting a 13,000x speedup over classical strategies.
Analysis-first SDK constructed across the surface-code stack and the Willow processor structure. The canonical framework for surface-code analysis, AlphaQubit decoder integration, and quantum-machine-learning pipelines by way of TensorFlow Quantum.
PennyLane
Constructed by Xanadu 🇨🇦
Est. 2018
SDK
Packages and options: pennylane (core), pennylane-lightning (high-performance state-vector simulator), pennylane-cirq, pennylane-qiskit, pennylane-aqt, pennylane-amazon-braket, pennylane-strawberryfields. {Hardware}-agnostic differentiable interface.
Newest: March 2026: Catalyst JIT compiler ships, compiling hybrid quantum-classical packages on to MLIR for GPU acceleration.
Customary SDK for quantum machine studying. Treats quantum circuits as differentiable features, permitting gradient-based coaching of variational quantum fashions alongside classical neural networks. Catalyst extends the differentiable mannequin to MLIR-compiled GPU pipelines.
tket
Constructed by Quantinuum (previously Cambridge Quantum) 🇬🇧
Est. 2017
SDK
Packages and options: pytket (Python interface), pytket-qiskit, pytket-cirq, pytket-quantinuum, pytket-pennylane, pytket-aqt, pytket-extensions. C++ compiler core wrapped by way of pytket on PyPI.
Newest: November 2025: pytket-quantinuum gained native assist for Helios’s barium-ion 99.92 p.c two-qubit gate constancy profile and Colour code with Iceberg-concatenated logical qubits.
Compiler-first SDK initially constructed at Cambridge Quantum and rewritten in C++ for manufacturing efficiency. Canonical compiler for Quantinuum Nexus and routinely produces shorter circuit depths than competing transpilers on benchmark duties.
Q# and the QDK
Constructed by Microsoft Quantum 🇺🇸
Est. 2017
SDK
Packages and options: Microsoft.Quantum.Improvement.Package (Q# compiler + libraries), Microsoft.Quantum.Numerics, Microsoft.Quantum.Chemistry, Microsoft.Quantum.MachineLearning. Q# language tooling in VS Code, Visible Studio, and Jupyter.
Newest: February 2025: Q# gained native assist for Microsoft’s Majorana 1 topological-core processor, the primary language-level assist for topological qubits.
Area-specific language for quantum programming, mixed with the QDK libraries for chemistry, machine studying, and numerics. Integrates tightly with Azure Quantum and the .NET runtime, the pure selection for enterprise groups whose present stack is C#-based.
Strawberry Fields
Constructed by Xanadu 🇨🇦
Est. 2018
SDK
Packages and options: strawberryfields (core CV simulator + Borealis/Aurora {hardware} backend), strawberryfields.tf (TensorFlow integration), strawberryfields.apps (Gaussian boson sampling and graph-similarity functions).
Newest: June 2025: GKP error-correction breakthrough printed in Bodily Assessment Letters, the primary room-temperature measurement-based fault-tolerance demonstration on photonic {hardware}.
Steady-variable quantum-computing framework, distinct from the gate-model SDKs. Canonical interface to Xanadu’s Borealis and Aurora photonic processors and the usual instrument for Gaussian boson sampling analysis.
Cloud Platforms CLOUD
Managed cloud entry factors that expose quantum processors via a single API and SDK. Cloud platforms summary away hardware-vendor variations and provide pay-as-you-go entry to manufacturing quantum processors.
IBM Quantum Platform
Constructed by IBM 🇺🇸
Est. 2016
CLOUD
Packages and options: Cloud entry level to IBM’s Heron R2 (156q), Nighthawk (120q, Nov 2025), and Condor (1,121q). Free tier and pay-as-you-go. Qiskit Runtime primitives optimise circuit execution.
Newest: March 2026: Heron R2 simulated KCuF3 in collaboration with Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory, matching peer-reviewed neutron-scattering information.
Essentially the most-used cloud entry level to actual quantum {hardware}, with the most important business superconducting fleet behind it. Qiskit Runtime layer optimises circuit execution and integrates with HPC clusters by way of the Qiskit C API.
Amazon Braket
Constructed by AWS 🇺🇸
Est. 2019
CLOUD
Packages and options: Managed quantum-computing service providing entry to IonQ Forte and Tempo, Rigetti Cepheus, QuEra Aquila and Gemini, IQM Garnet, and AQT IBEX Q1 (added Nov 2025 with EU information residency) via a single API and SDK.
Newest: November 2025: Classiq Quantum Platform turned out there on Braket by way of AWS Market for enterprise prospects.
Essentially the most numerous multi-vendor cloud, with the broadest hardware-partner roster spanning trapped-ion, neutral-atom, and superconducting platforms. Integrates with AWS analytics, safety, and machine-learning tooling.
Azure Quantum
Constructed by Microsoft 🇺🇸
Est. 2019
CLOUD
Packages and options: Microsoft’s quantum-computing cloud, internet hosting Majorana 1 plus companion {hardware} from Quantinuum, IonQ, and PASQAL. Integrates Q# and Qiskit, plus the QDK chemistry libraries.
Newest: January 2026: QuNorth deployed the Atom Computing + Microsoft Magne system commercially in Denmark by way of Azure Quantum.
Distinguishing function is the topological-qubit analysis path led by Microsoft’s {hardware} group. The Quantinuum partnership delivered 12 logical qubits with an 800x error-rate enchancment, and the Magne collaboration targets 50 logical qubits by late 2026.
Quantinuum Nexus
Constructed by Quantinuum 🇬🇧
Est. 2024
CLOUD
Packages and options: Cloud entry level to Helios (98 barium ions, 99.92 p.c two-qubit constancy, 48 logical qubits, Nov 2025). tket-native compiler. Subscription and per-usage billing.
Newest: November 2025: Helios launched with 98 barium ions, 33.5 million quantum quantity, and 48 absolutely error-corrected logical qubits.
Direct entry to the highest-fidelity gate operations in business. The primary cloud to ship logical-qubit-native APIs as Quantinuum scales towards 100+ logical qubits, with Colour code plus Iceberg concatenation below the hood.
Strangeworks
Constructed by Strangeworks Inc 🇺🇸
Est. 2018
CLOUD
Packages and options: Unified multi-vendor quantum-computing platform that aggregates entry to IBM, Google, Rigetti, IonQ, D-Wave, and Infleqtion behind a single workflow with cumulative funding. Quantinuum partnership for cryptographic key companies.
Newest: April 2026: Lively improvement of multi-vendor cloud platform aggregating IBM, Google, Rigetti, IonQ, D-Wave, and Infleqtion {hardware}.
The canonical multi-vendor abstraction layer for enterprises that need hardware-agnostic quantum entry with out committing to a single vendor’s stack. Serves shoppers throughout monetary companies, defence, and pharma.
Compilers, Management, and Middleware COMPILER
Software program that turns high-level algorithm descriptions into optimised quantum-hardware operations, plus the real-time management and quantum-error-correction methods that make fault-tolerant operation doable.
Classiq Quantum Platform
Constructed by Classiq 🇮🇱
Est. 2020
COMPILER
Packages and options: AI-powered algorithm-design platform that routinely generates optimised quantum circuits from high-level practical specs. Right-by-construction enforcement, computerized uncomputation, GPU-based simulation. Integrates with NVIDIA CUDA-Q and C12 carbon-nanotube qubits.
Newest: February 2026: Classiq 1.0 launched, a production-ready quantum software-engineering platform. Obtainable on AWS Market.
Algorithm-design platform that lets engineers describe what they need a quantum circuit to do at a excessive stage, and the compiler synthesises the optimised circuit. Removes the necessity to hand-write quantum gate sequences.
Deltaflow 2
Constructed by Riverlane 🇬🇧
Est. 2025
COMPILER
Packages and options: Actual-time quantum-error-correction decoder working at sub-microsecond latency. Deployed at Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory in September 2025 (first devoted real-time QEC at a US nationwide lab) and at OQC’s UK business information centre in July 2025.
Newest: April 2026: Demonstrated QEC latency 10x quicker than Google’s surface-code strategy.
Actual-time error-correction decoder that addresses the bottleneck for scaling logical-qubit counts past a number of dozen. Drives the sensible limits of fault-tolerant operation: quicker decoders allow deeper circuits and extra logical qubits.
OPX1000
Constructed by Quantum Machines 🇮🇱
Est. 2025
COMPILER
Packages and options: Quantum management system supporting nanosecond-to-millisecond operations on superconducting, trapped-ion, and neutral-atom processors. Integrates with NVIDIA DGX Quantum at Julich Supercomputing Centre. The QBridge layer allows quantum computer systems to behave as HPC sources.
Newest: November 2025: OPX1000 unveiled with layered quantum-control structure supporting nanosecond to millisecond operations.
Quantum-control hardware-software platform that handles real-time pulse technology, classical suggestions, and orchestration throughout a number of qubit modalities. The mixing with NVIDIA DGX Quantum is the canonical instance of HPC-quantum coupling in 2026.
Triple Alpha
Constructed by Horizon Quantum Computing 🇸🇬
Est. 2025
COMPILER
Packages and options: Quantum software program improvement setting that interprets classical code into quantum circuits. Integrates with Maybell cryostat, Quantum Machines management methods, and a Rigetti processor on the Singapore HQ. Strategic collaboration with Alice & Bob for fault-tolerant cat-qubit software program in 2026.
Newest: March 2026: Horizon Quantum listed on Nasdaq (HQ) by way of SPAC merger with dMY Squared Expertise Group, with $110M PIPE financing led by IonQ.
Compiler that interprets classical code into quantum circuits, eradicating the necessity to hand-write quantum algorithms. The primary quantum-software stack to combine with a wholly-owned in-house quantum pc.
Fireplace Opal
Constructed by Q-CTRL 🇦🇺
Est. 2017
COMPILER
Packages and options: Quantum management infrastructure software program for error suppression. Drops in beneath any SDK to use pulse-level optimisation that reinforces circuit constancy with out altering the applying code. The Ironstone Opal sister product (Feb 2026) extends to quantum navigation for defence and aerospace.
Newest: February 2026: Ironstone Opal launched as the primary business quantum-navigation system, claiming 100x enchancment in GPS-denied precision.
Pulse-level error-suppression middleware that reinforces circuit constancy on present quantum {hardware}. Achieved a 4x optimisation enhance on IBM utility-scale quantum computer systems and received the TIME Journal Finest Innovation of the Yr award in December 2025.
Algorithm Libraries and Functions ALGORITHM
Quantum-algorithm libraries concentrating on particular industries: monetary optimisation, machine-learning compression, drug-discovery chemistry, and supplies simulation.
Forge
Constructed by QC Ware 🇺🇸
Est. 2014
ALGORITHM
Packages and options: Enterprise quantum-computing platform with platform-agnostic entry to quantum {hardware}. Abstracts vendor-specific APIs and lets enterprise data-science groups run optimisation, ML, and Monte Carlo simulations throughout IBM, IonQ, and companion {hardware}.
Newest: Could 2026: Continued growth of enterprise buyer base together with JPMorgan Chase adoption alongside Goldman Sachs and Airbus partnerships.
Enterprise entry layer for Fortune 100 quantum proof-of-concepts in finance, aerospace, and industrial optimisation. The longest-running enterprise quantum-software platform, based in 2014, with deep partnerships at Goldman Sachs and Airbus.
CompactifAI
Constructed by Multiverse Computing 🇪🇸
Est. 2019
ALGORITHM
Packages and options: Quantum-inspired large-language-model compression platform. The HyperNova 60B mannequin (Feb 2026) achieves 50 p.c compression from a 120B-parameter base mannequin. Obtainable by way of the CompactifAI API on AWS Market.
Newest: March 2026: CompactifAI partnered with Axelera AI to combine compressed fashions with edge platforms.
Quantum-inspired model-compression engine that shrinks LLMs by as much as 95 p.c with 2 to three p.c accuracy loss. Sister product Singularity targets quantum portfolio optimisation for asset managers.
Algorithmiq
🇫🇮 Helsinki
Est. 2020
ALGORITHM
Packages and options: Quantum-enhanced molecular simulation algorithms concentrating on pharmaceutical analysis and drug discovery. {Hardware}-portable throughout IBM Quantum, Microsoft Quantum Improvement Package, Quantum Circuits Aqumen Seeker (dual-rail qubits), and Rigetti.
Newest: November 2025: in collaboration with IBM Quantum, demonstrated the primary verified quantum simulation outperforming classical strategies on a chemistry benchmark.
Pharma-focused quantum-algorithm firm specialising in molecular simulation and quantum-enhanced optimisation for drug discovery. Distinct from horizontal SDKs by its chemistry-vertical focus and hardware-agnostic algorithm portfolio. Current partnerships span IBM (chemistry benchmarks), Microsoft (fault-tolerant chemistry workflows), and Rigetti (quantum-ML fraud detection in funds).
THRIFT and Mondrian
Constructed by Phasecraft 🇬🇧
Est. 2018
ALGORITHM
Packages and options: Mondrian quantum-optimisation platform plus the THRIFT algorithm for quantum simulation. THRIFT, printed in Nature Communications, achieved 10x simulation effectivity good points; Mondrian extends to broader optimisation and chemistry workloads.
Newest: September 2025: Phasecraft secured $34M Sequence B funding led by Plural and Playground World with Novo Holdings participation.
Supplies-focused quantum-algorithm platform with collaborations throughout Johnson Matthey, Oxford PV, UK NESO, and BT. Achieved DARPA QBI collaborator standing and was named XPRIZE Quantum Functions finalist.
Prime quantum software program corporations FAQ
Who’re the highest quantum software program corporations in 2026?
The leaders by stack layer: SDKs are Qiskit (IBM), Cirq (Google), PennyLane (Xanadu), and tket (Quantinuum). Cloud platforms are IBM Quantum, Microsoft Azure Quantum, and AWS Amazon Braket. Compilers and middleware are Classiq, Quantum Machines, and Horizon Quantum. Actual-time error correction is Riverlane. Algorithm libraries span finance (QC Ware, Multiverse, 1QBit), chemistry (Algorithmiq), and supplies (Phasecraft). Multi-vendor and management specialty: Q-CTRL and Strangeworks.
Which quantum SDK ought to I study?
Qiskit is probably the most broadly used and has the deepest tutorial library, particularly for rookies. PennyLane is finest in case you are doing quantum machine studying or differentiable quantum programming. tket is finest for compilation and circuit-depth optimisation. Cirq is most helpful in case you are doing surface-code or Google-hardware-specific analysis. Q# (Microsoft) integrates nicely with classical .NET workflows.
Which high quantum software program corporations are publicly traded?
Horizon Quantum Computing (Nasdaq: HQ) listed by way of SPAC in March 2026 and is the primary software-first quantum firm on a serious US alternate. Most different high quantum-software corporations are privately held however venture-backed at $100M+ valuations.
What’s the distinction between a quantum SDK, a compiler, and a cloud platform?
A quantum SDK (Qiskit, Cirq, PennyLane, tket) is the developer-facing API for writing quantum circuits. A compiler (Classiq, tket transpiler) interprets that high-level circuit into hardware-specific directions optimised for a goal processor. A cloud platform (IBM Quantum, Azure Quantum, Braket) hosts the {hardware} and the SDK runtime, offering scheduling, billing, and authentication.
Ought to I comply with all the highest quantum software program corporations, or focus?
Comply with stack-layer leaders moderately than monitoring each vendor. The highest quantum software program corporations cluster round 5 layers, with one to 4 critical business rivals per layer. Specializing in Qiskit (SDK), Azure Quantum or Braket (cloud), Classiq (compiler), Multiverse or Algorithmiq (vertical algorithms), and Q-CTRL (management) provides full protection of the software program stack.