Home › Compare › QuEra vs Atom Computing
Head to headQuEra vs Atom Computing
The two best-known neutral-atom companies, both building with single atoms held by lasers. QuEra has the stronger peer-reviewed error-correction record; Atom Computing has the bigger arrays and Microsoft's backing. Both have missed earlier dates.
Can they be compared? Yes: both use neutral atoms, so qubit counts and accuracy measure similar hardware. They use different elements (rubidium and ytterbium) and different error-correction partners, so error-correction results are only compared where QubitBenchmark has grouped them as comparable.
Side by side
| Topic | QuEra Computing | Atom Computing |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Neutral atom | Neutral atom |
| Most accurate | #4 | |
| Error-corrected qubits | ||
| Most qubits | #1 | |
| Fastest | ||
| Use it today | ||
| Latest machine | Gemini (260 physical qubits, gate-based, 2025); Aquila (256, analog) | Magne (1,225 sites, with Microsoft), being installed in Copenhagen |
| Can you use it? | Aquila on Amazon Braket; Gemini installed on site (first in Japan) | Systems sold for installation at customer sites; no public cloud found |
| Error-correction record | Several peer-reviewed results with Harvard and MIT, including logical magic state distillation (Nature, 2025) | Toric-code error correction over repeated cycles (preprint, 2026) |
| Next big promise | Libra: over 256 logical qubits on Amazon Braket in 2028 | Magne: 50 logical qubits, ready for first tasks around the turn of 2026/27 |
| Delivery record | Its 2024–2026 roadmap targets slipped; the new plan starts in 2028 | A promised 2025 customer delivery hasn't been confirmed; Magne is still being installed |
How they differ
Both companies make qubits from single neutral atoms trapped by focused laser light. Atoms are identical by nature, and these machines can hold very large numbers of them, which is why neutral atoms are one of the fastest-moving approaches.
QuEra, founded by Harvard and MIT physicists, uses rubidium atoms that can be moved around during a calculation, so any qubit can be brought next to any other. Its strength is published science: several of the field's most-cited error-correction results come from its work with Harvard and MIT.
Atom Computing uses ytterbium atoms and stores information in the atom's nucleus, which keeps qubits stable for unusually long times. It was the first to show arrays of more than 1,000 qubits, and it partners with Microsoft, which supplies the error-correction software.
Who's ahead
See the table above for this month's ranks. On delivery, both have missed earlier dates: QuEra's 2024–2026 targets slipped into a new 2028 plan, and Atom Computing's first error-corrected system for a customer is still being installed. In October 2026, DARPA picked Atom Computing for the final verification stage of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, an outside check of whether its design can work at scale. That's a meaningful vote of confidence, though not yet a delivered machine.
Bottom line: QuEra leads on published, peer-reviewed error-correction science. Atom Computing leads on scale and has Microsoft behind it. Neither has delivered its error-corrected machine yet, so treat both roadmaps with care.
Sources
- QuEra Computing: systems and roadmap, QuEra
- QuEra announces 2028 fault-tolerant quantum computer and expanded AWS collaboration, The Quantum Insider, 15 June 2026
- QuEra, Harvard and MIT researchers demonstrate logical-level magic state distillation, QuEra
- Denmark's QuNorth to acquire 50-logical-qubit Magne quantum computer from Atom Computing and Microsoft, Quantum Computing Report
- Atom Computing reveals quantum error correction with toric code, Atom Computing, 3 June 2026
- Atom Computing selected for DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative Stage C, ColoradoBiz