Superconducting

Rigetti Computing

Tunable-coupler superconducting QPUs with an aggressive open-source compiler stack. Direct QPU access via QCS or through Amazon Braket.

About Rigetti

One of the first commercial quantum computing companies

Rigetti Computing was founded in 2013 by Chad Rigetti, a former IBM researcher, making it one of the oldest commercial quantum computing companies. Rigetti was an early pioneer in cloud-accessible quantum hardware, launching the Quantum Cloud Services platform and the Forest SDK (later rebranded as pyQuil) before most competitors had public cloud offerings.

Rigetti builds superconducting transmon qubits using tunable couplers, which allow the coupling strength between adjacent qubits to be switched on and off rapidly. This tunable coupler architecture enables faster two-qubit gates and lower residual coupling noise compared to fixed-frequency qubit designs. The Ankaa-2 system arranges 84 qubits in an octagonal lattice, a topology that is more densely connected than IBM's heavy-hex layout, reducing routing overhead for many common circuit patterns.

Rigetti's open-source compiler Quilc is widely recognized as one of the most aggressive classical optimization compilers in quantum computing. It accepts Quil (Quantum Instruction Language) circuits and applies a suite of optimizations including gate synthesis, native gate decomposition, and qubit routing before sending the result to hardware. The free QVM (Quil Virtual Machine) provides an exact simulator that runs the same Quil instruction set, making it straightforward to develop and validate programs before spending QPU time.

Hardware Specifications

System specs at a glance

Specification Value
Current systems Ankaa-2 (84 qubits), Aspen-M-3 (79 qubits, via AWS Braket)
Qubit technology Superconducting transmon qubits with tunable couplers
Two-qubit gate fidelity ~98-99% (iSWAP-like native gate)
Native gates CZ gate and parameterized single-qubit rotations
Connectivity Octagonal lattice (more connected than IBM heavy-hex)
T1 / T2 coherence 10-50 microseconds
Cloud access Rigetti QCS (direct), Amazon Braket (Aspen-M-3)
Primary SDK pyQuil (open source Python); Qiskit via Braket provider
Compiler Quilc (aggressive classical optimization for Quil circuits)

Use Cases

Where Rigetti hardware excels

Getting Started

Run your first circuit on Rigetti

  1. Install pyQuil and start with the free QVM simulator

    pip install pyquil

    pyQuil is Rigetti's open-source Python SDK. You can write and run Quil circuits on the free QVM simulator without any cloud account. This is the fastest way to learn the Rigetti toolchain. See the pyQuil reference for full API details.

  2. Write a Bell state with pyQuil

    from pyquil import get_qc, Program
from pyquil.gates import H, CNOT, MEASURE

p = Program()
ro = p.declare('ro', 'BIT', 2)

p += H(0)
p += CNOT(0, 1)
p += MEASURE(0, ro[0])
p += MEASURE(1, ro[1])
p.wrap_in_numshots_loop(100)

qc = get_qc('2q-qvm')   # free local simulator
results = qc.run(qc.compile(p)).readout_data['ro']
print(results)

    This creates a Bell state and measures it 100 times on the local QVM. The qc.compile() call invokes Quilc for classical optimization before simulation.

  3. Access Aspen-M-3 via Amazon Braket (no QCS account needed)

    pip install amazon-braket-sdk
    from braket.aws import AwsDevice
from braket.circuits import Circuit

device = AwsDevice("arn:aws:braket:us-west-1::device/qpu/rigetti/Aspen-M-3")

bell = Circuit().h(0).cnot(0, 1)
task = device.run(bell, shots=100)
print(task.result().measurement_counts)

    Set AWS credentials via aws configure. This submits a Bell state to Aspen-M-3 and prints measurement results. See Amazon Braket for account setup and pricing details.

  4. Use Qiskit syntax via the Braket provider

    pip install qiskit qiskit-braket-provider

    If you are more familiar with Qiskit, the qiskit-braket-provider lets you write standard Qiskit circuits and submit them to Rigetti hardware via Braket. The provider handles transpilation automatically.

  5. Create a QCS account for direct Ankaa-2 access

    For access to Ankaa-2, OpenPulse, calibration data, and advanced QCS features, create an account at qcs.rigetti.com. QCS provides a job queue, real-time control access, and detailed per-qubit calibration reports.

Pricing

Access costs

Rigetti hardware is available via Amazon Braket (pay-per-shot) or directly via QCS. The QVM simulator and Quilc compiler are completely free to run locally, making Rigetti one of the easiest platforms to start learning without spending money.

Learning Resources

Tutorials and reference docs