Blog summary:
- The IBM Quantum Open Plan gets an update with new learning resources, new hardware, and a special promotion for eligible users.
- Log 20 minutes of compute in any 12‑month period and you can opt in to a special one-time offer: 180 minutes for the next 12 months.
- Additionally, we're making the IBM Quantum Heron r2 ibm_kingston—one of our highest‑performing systems—available to all Open Plan users.
- With expanded runtime and new educational resources, users can run everything from introductory circuits to advanced hybrid workflows.
- These efforts reflect our committment to open access, open education, and open science in quantum computing.
When IBM put the first quantum computer on the cloud in 2016, we wanted to give anyone with an internet connection the chance to experiment with real quantum hardware—for free. Ten years later, we’re still committed to open access, open education, and open innovation in quantum computing, and we still allow anyone to use IBM quantum hardware, free of charge.
The IBM Quantum Open Plan is a free, entry-level offering that gives users up to 10 minutes of quantum runtime every 28 days to run real experiments on the world’s leading quantum computers. That’s enough time for anyone—especially students and other beginners—to run small circuits, try Qiskit tutorials, explore basic algorithms, and experiment with simple quantum‑classical workflows.
Now, we’re introducing a special one-time offer to expand that offering for researchers and other advanced users.
More time. New hardware. All free.
Starting today, researchers on the Open Plan who use 20 minutes of runtime within any 12-month period can opt in to a special one-time promotion and get 180 minutes of runtime for the next 12 months.
Enjoy that 180 minutes at whatever pace suits your needs: use 15 minutes per month, 180 minutes in a day, or anything in between. After the 12‑month period ends, users return to the standard 10 minutes/month allocation, which remains unchanged:
Open Plan (one-time offer)
- 180 minutes of runtime for 12 months
- Use your time at any pace—no rollover limitations
- Plan reverts back to 10 minutes/month once 12-month period ends
Pre-reqs:
- Non-trial account
- Use 20 minutes of runtime within any 12-month period
That’s not all. In addition to the expanded runtime allocation, we’re also growing the Open Plan fleet with the IBM Quantum Heron r2 processor ibm_kingston. Previously reserved for users on our paid access plans, ibm_kingston is now available to all Open Plan users as well.
ibm_kingston is one of our most powerful quantum computers, capable of performing up to 340k circuit layer operations per second (CLOPS) with median two‑qubit error rates of 2.03×10⁻³. It was also one of the first processors in the IBM Quantum fleet to be upgraded with the ability to execute utility-scale dynamic circuits.
What can you do on the IBM Quantum Open Plan?
So, what can you do with 10 or 180 minutes of runtime on an IBM Quantum computer? A lot! In fact, even 10 minutes is more than enough time to run over two-thirds of the tutorials available on IBM Quantum Platform.
What can you do with 10 minutes of runtime?
With 10 minutes of runtime on an IBM quantum computer, you’ll have plenty of time to learn, test, and understand quantum workflows. That means running small circuits, executing Qiskit tutorials, exploring basic algorithms, and even trying out quantum-classical workflows.
These examples may sound like toy problems meant for learners just getting started with quantum computing, but when it comes to quantum computing, a small circuit or a basic algorithm can make a big impact. With 10 minutes of runtime, you can move well beyond introductory exercises and start experimenting with some of our most sophisticated techniques.
For example, it takes just an estimated 4 minutes of compute to run our tutorial on long-range entanglement with dynamic circuits—a technique that makes it possible to entangle distant qubits, even on quantum chips with limited qubit connectivity. Read our 2025 blog post to learn more about this technique and the paper that inspired it.
Please note that while the long-range entanglement technique demonstrated in this tutorial can be executed in under 10 minutes of runtime, recreating the full experiment detailed in the corresponding paper would take significantly more.
What can you do with 180 minutes of runtime?
With 180 minutes of runtime on IBM Quantum computers, you can run even more advanced workloads and start dreaming up more ambitious projects. That might mean performing iterative algorithm tuning, testing out hybrid optimization workflows, benchmarking different error mitigation methods, and even exploring some domain-specific use cases.
For example, 180 minutes is more than enough runtime to execute our utility-scale error mitigation with probabilistic error amplification tutorial on a Heron r2 processor. That recreates our landmark 2023 quantum utility experiment, which was the first to show evidence of quantum computers delivering scientific value beyond exact computational methods.
Clocking in at an estimated 16-minute runtime, your 180-minute allotment isn’t just enough to recreate the IBM quantum utility experiment; it’s enough to run that workload nearly a dozen times. Read our 2023 blog post to learn more about that experiment and our landmark quantum utility paper.
Quantum for all
Open-access quantum computing shouldn’t just be for beginners running small circuits. We want to ensure that even serious researchers can extract real value from the IBM Quantum Open Plan for serious experiments and proof of concept work. With 180 minutes of compute on our quantum hardware, you’ll be able to do that.
To make the most of this expanded access, we’re rolling out a new course on IBM Quantum Learning, "Designing and leading quantum projects" intended to help you build successful quantum initiatives. This course covers key topics like early‑stage planning, team roles and responsibilities, identifying meaningful use cases, and defining measures of success.
Crucially, the new course also covers best practices for grant writing, empowering users to continue taking full advantage of IBM Quantum hardware long into the future. Through grant writing support and initiatives like the IBM Quantum Credits Program, we hope to enable users conducting high-quality research to continue that work even after they’ve used their 180-minute allotment.
As the field moves closer to the first demonstrations of quantum advantage, we want to ensure every user can keep pace. This expansion of free access reinforces our promise to support open education, open exploration, and open scientific progress.
Get started today
Already an Open Plan user? Sign in to IBM Quantum Platform to start running circuits on real quantum computers and enjoying all the benefits the Open Plan has to offer. Moving forward, once you use 20 minutes of compute within any 12 month period, you’ll be able to opt in to the new 180-minute promotion.
Haven’t signed up for the Open Plan yet? It’s the perfect time to get started. Click here to create your account and start making progress towards 180 minutes of compute.
With expanded free access, modern hardware, and new educational resources, we’re giving Open Plan users more opportunities than ever to learn, explore, and build.
