What Qiskit does

Qiskit is IBM's open-source software development kit for quantum computing, originally launched in 2017 and maintained by IBM Quantum Computing (a division of IBM Corporation, NYSE: IBM). The platform provides tools for building quantum circuits from quantum gates, transpiling workloads, running experiments via primitives (Sampler, Estimator, Execute), and visualizing and analyzing results. Qiskit is positioned as a backend-agnostic quantum execution layer with hardware plugins for IBM Quantum, IonQ, Amazon Braket, Azure Quantum, IQM, Rigetti, Quantinuum, Superstaq, AQT, and Alice & Bob, and it integrates with HPC environments via the Slurm plugin, QRMI, and Qiskit Serverless for quantum-classical orchestration. The product surface has expanded beyond the core SDK into addons (Map/Optimize/Execute/Post-process building blocks), Qiskit Function templates, the Benchpress benchmarking toolkit, and a community Qiskit ecosystem.

The primary users are quantum information science researchers, quantum algorithm developers, HPC organizations integrating quantum resources, and enterprise users applying quantum methods to optimization, simulation, quantum machine learning, and partial differential equation problems. The platform has accumulated 13M+ downloads, 7,000+ dependent projects, 1,200+ advocates across 70+ countries, and was named the preferred primary SDK by 69% of developers in the Unitary Foundation 2025 survey. Qiskit v2.4 was released in April 2026 and v2.5 in July 2026, indicating a roughly quarterly major-release cadence.

Qiskit operates as an open-source project under a freemium model with no direct licensing revenue; pricing is not publicly disclosed and the project is funded through IBM's overall R&D and strategic investments in quantum computing. Distribution is self-serve via pip install and GitHub, with additional enterprise-facing entry points through IBM Quantum Platform and the Amazon Braket and Azure Quantum marketplaces. Revenue, where it exists, is generated indirectly through IBM Quantum Platform subscriptions and hardware sales rather than through Qiskit licensing, and Qiskit-specific financials are not separately disclosed by IBM.

Name

Qiskit

Legal name

Qiskit (IBM Quantum Computing)

Website

https://qiskit.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Qiskit is IBM's open-source quantum computing SDK used by 13M+ developers to build, transpile, and execute quantum workloads across 10+ hardware providers. It serves quantum researchers, algorithm developers, and HPC organizations globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Quantum Computing Software

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Quantum Development Frameworks & Libraries (HDAGACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Quantum Programming Languages & SDKs (HDAGACAA), Quantum Compilation Toolkits (Frontend SDK Layer) (HDAGACAF), Quantum Open-Source Ecosystems, Package Managers & Interoperability Standards (HDAGACAO), Quantum Algorithm Prototyping & Application Templates (HDAGACAG), Quantum Hardware Abstraction Layers & Backend Interfaces (HDAGACAH)

Keywords

• Quantum computing SDK
• Open source quantum software
• Quantum circuit transpiler
• Quantum hardware integration
• Quantum algorithm development

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Open Source / No Direct Revenue: Qiskit is an open-source software stack distributed freely. As part of IBM's quantum computing initiative, it serves to grow the quantum computing ecosystem, drive adoption of IBM Quantum hardware and cloud platform, and establish IBM's position as the leading quantum computing provider. Revenue is generated indirectly through IBM Quantum Platform subscriptions and hardware sales rather than directly from Qiskit licensing.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Qiskit is an open-source quantum computing software development kit (SDK) that provides researchers, developers, and HPC organizations with tools to build quantum circuits from quantum gates, transpile and compile circuits for execution, use primitives (Sampler, Estimator) to run experiments, and visualize and analyze results. It is backend-agnostic, supporting execution across IBM Quantum, IonQ, Amazon Braket, Azure Quantum, IQM, Rigetti, Quantinuum, Superstaq, AQT, and Alice & Bob hardware, and includes modular extensions such as Qiskit Addons, Function Templates, Qiskit Serverless, and the Benchpress benchmarking toolkit.

Product overview

Qiskit is IBM's open-source quantum computing software platform consisting of a core SDK (Qiskit) and ecosystem of extensions. The platform provides tools for quantum circuit building, transpilation (83x faster than competitors), and execution across multiple quantum hardware providers. Qiskit addons and Function templates provide modular algorithmic building blocks, while Benchpress enables performance benchmarking and Qiskit Serverless enables quantum-classical orchestration. The Qiskit ecosystem hosts community-contributed projects extending the platform's capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Qiskit SDK: The core open-source software development kit for quantum computing, providing tools for building quantum circuits, transpilation, primitives, and execution.
• Qiskit Serverless
• Qiskit Addons
• Qiskit Function Templates
• Benchpress

Products and services

• Qiskit (Core SDK) Open-source Python/C/Rust quantum computing SDK providing tools for building quantum circuits from quantum gates, compiling/transpiling circuits for execution, using primitives (Sampler, Estimator) to build and execute experiments, and visualizing/analyzing results. Targeted at researchers, algorithm developers, and HPC organizations.
• Qiskit Addons Collection of algorithmic building blocks for enabling algorithm discovery at utility scale. Includes modular capabilities across Map (MPF, AQC-Tensor, Transpiler), Optimize (OBP, Circuit cutting, Transpiler), Execute (Primitives), and Post-process (SQD, M3, Quantum Info) stages. Targeted at algorithm developers composing quantum workflows.
• Qiskit Function Templates Pre-built realistic code templates that implement the latest research workflows with Qiskit and Qiskit Addons, designed to accelerate algorithm development. Targeted at algorithm developers seeking ready-to-use research workflow examples.
• Benchpress Open-source benchmarking toolkit for evaluating software performance across various quantum SDKs. Demonstrates Qiskit's performance leadership with 83x faster transpilation versus competing SDKs. Targeted at researchers and developers benchmarking quantum software.
• Qiskit Serverless Simple interface for running workloads across quantum-classical resources, supporting multi-cloud and supercomputing use cases for heterogeneous orchestration. Targeted at HPC organizations integrating quantum into classical compute environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 83x faster transpilation time compared to next leading SDK
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

AI capability5 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IonQcoreTechnology or IntegrationIonQ is listed as a Qiskit quantum hardware plugin provider, enabling Qiskit users to execute quantum circuits on IonQ's trapped ion quantum computers through Qiskit's backend-agnostic architecture.
• Amazon BraketcoreTechnology or IntegrationAmazon Braket is a Qiskit quantum hardware plugin provider, allowing Qiskit users to run quantum workloads on various quantum computers available through AWS Braket service.
• Azure QuantumcoreTechnology or IntegrationAzure Quantum is a Qiskit quantum hardware plugin provider, enabling Qiskit users to access Microsoft's quantum computing offerings through the Azure cloud platform.
• IQMcoreTechnology or IntegrationIQM is listed as a Qiskit quantum hardware plugin provider, supporting execution of Qiskit quantum circuits on IQM's quantum processors.
• RigetticoreTechnology or IntegrationRigetti is a Qiskit quantum hardware plugin provider, enabling users to execute Qiskit circuits on Rigetti's quantum processors.
• QuantinuumcoreTechnology or IntegrationQuantinuum is listed as a Qiskit quantum hardware plugin provider, allowing Qiskit users to access Quantinuum's trapped ion quantum computers.
• Unitary FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Unitary Foundation conducts annual quantum computing surveys. Qiskit is recognized in their 2025 survey where 69% of developers indicated preference for Qiskit as their primary SDK.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Azure Quantum Development Kit (Q#): Microsoft's quantum development kit featuring the Q# language and Python interoperability. Competes with Qiskit across the full quantum stack and targets enterprise/HPC customers via Azure cloud distribution.
• Cirq: Google's open-source quantum computing SDK for building and executing circuits on Google Quantum AI hardware. Direct competitor to Qiskit in the quantum developer tooling category, with a similar Python-based open-source model but tied to Google's hardware stack.
• Amazon Braket SDK: AWS's open-source quantum development kit for accessing quantum hardware via Amazon Braket. Directly competes with Qiskit for cloud-distributed quantum workloads, with backend-agnostic ambition similar to Qiskit but tied to AWS infrastructure.
• PennyLane: Xanadu's open-source quantum machine learning and quantum computing SDK. Competes directly with Qiskit for algorithm developers and quantum ML researchers, with particularly strong positioning in hybrid quantum-classical ML workflows.
• PyQuil: Rigetti's Python library for building and running quantum programs using the Quil instruction set. Historical direct competitor in quantum SDKs, now maintained by the broader community with Rigetti hardware support.

Emerging players

• QuantumPath: Quantum application development platform with a focus on finance and industry verticals. Compared to Qiskit in the application/algorithm tooling layer, particularly for verticals like banking and logistics.
• Zapata AI: Quantum-inspired and quantum-enabled software company focused on optimization, simulation, and ML. Competes with Qiskit in enterprise algorithm use cases, particularly for industrial optimization and ML workloads.
• Strangeworks: Quantum computing platform providing a unified interface to multiple quantum hardware providers and SDKs. Competes with Qiskit's backend-agnostic vision at the platform layer while also supporting Qiskit as a backend.
• Classiq: Enterprise-focused quantum software platform offering automated circuit synthesis and high-level abstraction for quantum algorithm development. Competes with Qiskit in the algorithm layer, particularly for enterprise users seeking higher-level tooling.

Broad incumbents

• IBM Quantum: Qiskit's parent platform — IBM Quantum provides the cloud platform, hardware, and service layer that Qiskit integrates with. While not a peer in the SDK sense, IBM Quantum is the primary commercial manifestation of Qiskit's value and competes with other full-stack quantum providers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/Qiskit
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@qiskit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qiskit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Qiskit