{"id":370,"date":"2026-09-14T14:14:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/?p=370"},"modified":"2026-09-14T14:14:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:14:54","slug":"qiskit-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Qiskit Tutorial: Write and Run Your First Program on a Real IBM Quantum Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Qiskit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qiskit is IBM&#8217;s free, open-source Python toolkit for building quantum circuits and running them on simulators or on IBM&#8217;s real quantum computers. You don&#8217;t need a physics degree or a lab , just Python and a browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want the deeper mechanics of qubits, superposition, and phase before diving into code, see [Internal link: What Is Quantum Computing?]. For this tutorial, the important point is simpler: Qiskit turns a sequence of quantum operations into something you can write, run, and inspect like any other Python program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What You Need Before You Start<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You don&#8217;t need much to follow along, but a few things will make the difference between a smooth first run and a frustrating one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Python 3.10 or later<\/strong> installed on your machine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Basic comfort with the command line (running pip install, activating a virtual environment)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A free <strong>IBM Quantum account<\/strong> (covered in the next section)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>No physics background is required for this tutorial.<\/strong> One honest caveat: if you&#8217;ve never written any Python before, learn that first. Trying to pick up Python and Qiskit&#8217;s syntax at the same time will make this harder than it needs to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Creating Your Free IBM Quantum Account<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You&#8217;ll need an IBM Quantum account before you can run anything on real hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/\">IBM Quantum Platform<\/a> and sign up or log in.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generate your <strong>API key<\/strong> (also called an API token) from your account dashboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Copy it somewhere safe , <strong>never paste your token into a public notebook, a shared script, or a GitHub repo.<\/strong>Anyone with your token can run jobs (and burn your free minutes) on your account.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From the Instances page, copy the CRN of the instance you want to use.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visual suggestion:<\/strong> Screenshot of the IBM Quantum Platform account dashboard with the API token field visible.<strong>Placement:<\/strong> Directly below step 2 above. <strong>Alt text:<\/strong> IBM Quantum account page showing where to find your API token, token blurred out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Free-tier honesty check:<\/strong> as of IBM&#8217;s own pricing update on 16 March 2026, the Open Plan gives you <strong>10 minutes of real QPU runtime every 28 days<\/strong>, free, no credit card required. Active users who&#8217;ve used at least 20 minutes within a 12-month period can opt into a one-time bump to 180 minutes over the following year. Limits change , check <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/docs\/en\/guides\/plans-overview\">IBM&#8217;s current plans page<\/a> before relying on a specific number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this tutorial, 10 minutes is plenty. The circuit you&#8217;ll build takes a fraction of a second of actual QPU time; most of your &#8220;wait&#8221; is queue time, not runtime, which is covered later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">No Installation? Start with IBM Quantum Composer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before you install anything, it&#8217;s worth seeing a working circuit in two minutes flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>IBM Quantum Composer<\/strong> is a drag-and-drop circuit builder that runs entirely in your browser, at <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/composer\">quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/composer<\/a>. No installation, no Python required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drag a gate onto a qubit&#8217;s wire, and the state visualization updates immediately. This is the fastest way to build intuition for one gate in particular: the <strong>Hadamard gate<\/strong>, which turns a qubit that&#8217;s definitely 0 into an even mix of 0 and 1 , the building block for everything that follows in this tutorial. [Internal link: Quantum Gates Explained] covers what the Hadamard gate and its neighbors actually do, in more depth than needed here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visual suggestion:<\/strong> Screenshot of a gate mid-drag onto a circuit wire in Composer. <strong>Placement:<\/strong> After the paragraph introducing Composer. <strong>Alt text:<\/strong> Building a quantum circuit by dragging gates in IBM Quantum Composer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A reader who builds a working circuit here in two minutes is far more likely to stick with the harder, code-based sections below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Installing Qiskit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re ready to move from Composer into code, here&#8217;s the install path and where most tutorials, including outdated ones still ranking in search results, start causing errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Setting Up a Virtual Environment (Do This First)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Create a dedicated virtual environment before installing anything:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">python3 -m venv qiskit-env<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">source qiskit-env\/bin\/activate &nbsp; # On Windows: qiskit-env\\Scripts\\activate<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This keeps Qiskit&#8217;s dependencies from colliding with other Python projects on your machine. <strong>This single step prevents the majority of the installation errors covered below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Installing Qiskit with Pip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Install both the core SDK and the runtime client you&#8217;ll need to reach real hardware:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">pip install qiskit[all]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">pip install qiskit-ibm-runtime<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Confirm it worked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">import qiskit<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">print(qiskit.__version__)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You should see 2.5.x or later. If you&#8217;re on an older 1.x version, expect some of the syntax below to differ ,check the <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/Qiskit\/qiskit\">Qiskit migration notes on GitHub<\/a> before continuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Using Qiskit in Jupyter Notebook<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most readers will want Jupyter, since circuit diagrams and histograms render inline:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">pip install jupyter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">jupyter notebook<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Common Installation Errors and How to Fix Them<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most installation problems trace back to one of a handful of causes. Here&#8217;s what actually shows up, and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Error<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Likely cause<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Fix<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>ModuleNotFoundError: No module named &#8216;qiskit&#8217;<\/td><td>Installed outside your active virtual environment<\/td><td>Activate the environment, then reinstall<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Circuit drawing fails \/ blank output<\/td><td>Missing visualization extras<\/td><td>Reinstall with pip install qiskit[all]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>pip: command not found<\/td><td>Using Python 3 without pip3 alias<\/td><td>Try pip3 install qiskit instead<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Old code using execute() or IBMQ.load_account() fails<\/td><td>Code written for Qiskit 1.x or earlier<\/td><td>These functions were removed; use SamplerV2\/EstimatorV2 from qiskit_ibm_runtime instead<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>qiskit_ibm_provider import errors<\/td><td>Following a tutorial referencing the deprecated provider package<\/td><td>Use qiskit-ibm-runtime, which replaced it<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That fourth row is worth flagging directly: <strong>if you&#8217;re following a Medium post or GitHub example from before 2025, it&#8217;s very likely broken by Qiskit&#8217;s version changes<\/strong>, not by anything you did wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building Your First Quantum Circuit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for the actual quantum program: a two-qubit <strong>Bell state<\/strong>, the standard &#8220;hello world&#8221; of quantum computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Code, Line by Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">from qiskit import QuantumCircuit<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"># Create a circuit with 2 qubits and 2 classical bits (to store measurement results)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">qc = QuantumCircuit(2, 2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"># Apply a Hadamard gate to qubit 0 , puts it into superposition<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">qc.h(0)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"># Apply a CNOT gate: flips qubit 1 only if qubit 0 measures as 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">qc.cx(0, 1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"># Measure both qubits into the classical bits<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">qc.measure([0, 1], [0, 1])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">qc.draw(&#8220;mpl&#8221;)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Hadamard gate creates superposition on qubit 0. The CNOT gate then entangles qubit 1 with it , the two qubits become correlated in a way that has no classical equivalent. [Internal link: Quantum Gates Explained] walks through exactly why CNOT is the gate that creates entanglement, if you want the mechanism rather than just the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the Circuit Diagram Is Telling You<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">qc.draw(&#8220;mpl&#8221;) renders the circuit as a diagram, read left to right like sheet music: each horizontal line is a qubit, and each symbol is an operation applied to it in sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visual suggestion:<\/strong> The rendered circuit diagram from the code above. <strong>Placement:<\/strong> Immediately after the code block. <strong>Alt text:<\/strong> Two-qubit Bell state circuit drawn by Qiskit, showing a Hadamard gate on qubit 0 and a CNOT gate entangling qubit 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Result You Should Expect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once measured, this circuit should produce roughly <strong>50%<\/strong> <strong>00<\/strong> <strong>and 50%<\/strong> <strong>11<\/strong>, with almost no 01 or 10. That specific, almost-clean 50\/50 split is what makes the next two sections : simulator, then real hardware&nbsp; worth comparing directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Running It on a Simulator First<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Always simulate before you spend real queue time. It&#8217;s instant, it&#8217;s free, and it confirms your circuit is actually correct before hardware noise gets involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">from qiskit.primitives import StatevectorSampler<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">sampler = StatevectorSampler()<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">result = sampler.run([qc], shots=1024).result()<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">counts = result[0].data.c.get_counts()<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">print(counts)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You&#8217;ll get something close to {&#8217;00&#8217;: 512, &#8217;11&#8217;: 512} \u2014 a clean, near-perfect 50\/50 split.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A simulator is a normal computer pretending to be a quantum computer.<\/strong> It&#8217;s not the real thing, which is exactly why the next section exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Running It on a Real IBM Quantum Computer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the part most Qiskit tutorials skip entirely. Here&#8217;s how to actually get your circuit onto a physical device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choosing a Backend<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than trusting a qubit count or device name from an article (hardware changes constantly), pull the current list and let Qiskit pick the least-busy option for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">from qiskit_ibm_runtime import QiskitRuntimeService<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">service = QiskitRuntimeService(<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;token=&#8221;&lt;your-api-key&gt;&#8221;,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;instance=&#8221;&lt;your-CRN&gt;&#8221;,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">backend = service.least_busy(operational=True, simulator=False)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">print(backend.name)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Submitting Your Job<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Real hardware requires transpiling your circuit into the gates that specific device actually supports, then submitting it through the Sampler primitive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">from qiskit.transpiler import generate_preset_pass_manager<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">from qiskit_ibm_runtime import SamplerV2 as Sampler<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">pm = generate_preset_pass_manager(backend=backend, optimization_level=1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">isa_circuit = pm.run(qc)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">sampler = Sampler(mode=backend)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">job = sampler.run([isa_circuit], shots=1024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">print(f&#8221;Job ID: {job.job_id()}&#8221;)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Save that job ID , you can use it to retrieve your results later, even if you close your notebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Queue: What&#8217;s Happening While You Wait<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nobody covers this properly, and it&#8217;s the number one reason beginners think something&#8217;s broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You&#8217;re sharing a physical machine with everyone else using the Open Plan. Your job sits in a queue behind other jobs, and the wait can range from a couple of minutes to considerably longer depending on demand , there&#8217;s no fixed number worth quoting here, since it shifts hour to hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This is completely normal.<\/strong> You can close your laptop; the result will be waiting when you check back with your job ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visual suggestion:<\/strong> Screenshot of a job&#8217;s status page on IBM Quantum Platform showing &#8220;Queued.&#8221; <strong>Placement:<\/strong> Directly after this section. <strong>Alt text:<\/strong> Qiskit job waiting in the IBM Quantum queue, showing job status as queued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reading Your Results and Why They&#8217;re Messy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the most useful 200 words on this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">result = job.result()<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">counts = result[0].data.c.get_counts()<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">print(counts)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your real output won&#8217;t be a clean 50\/50. Expect something like {&#8217;00&#8217;: 460, &#8217;11&#8217;: 470, &#8217;01&#8217;: 48, &#8217;10&#8217;: 46} \u2014 noticeable 01 and 10 counts that shouldn&#8217;t be there at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>That&#8217;s not a bug in your code.<\/strong> Real qubits are physical objects. Heat, electromagnetic interference, and the simple passage of time cause them to lose their state gradually a process called decoherence&nbsp; and every gate operation introduces a small chance of error. [Internal link: Quantum Error Correction] covers why this happens at the hardware level and what&#8217;s being done about it; the practical takeaway here is just that noise on real hardware is expected, not a sign you did something wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visual suggestion:<\/strong> Two histograms side by side , the clean simulator result and the noisier real-hardware result.<strong>Placement:<\/strong> Immediately after this section&#8217;s explanation. <strong>Alt text:<\/strong> Simulator results compared with noisy results from a real IBM quantum computer, showing near-perfect 50\/50 split versus a noisier real distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simulator vs Real Hardware: What Actually Differs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seeing the two side by side makes the trade-off concrete, and it&#8217;s the single most useful reference on this page if you only remember one table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><strong>Simulator<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Real QPU<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Speed<\/td><td>Instant<\/td><td>Minutes to hours (mostly queue time)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Cost<\/td><td>Free, unlimited<\/td><td>Free tier limited to 10 min \/ 28 days<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Accuracy<\/td><td>Matches theory exactly<\/td><td>Noisy \u2014 decoherence and gate errors<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Qubits available<\/td><td>Limited only by your computer&#8217;s memory<\/td><td>Fixed by the physical device<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Best for<\/td><td>Debugging circuit logic before committing queue time<\/td><td>Confirming your circuit works on real physics<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neither replaces the other. Simulate to check your logic; run on hardware to see what real quantum behavior actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ready to go beyond your first Qiskit program?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Running your first quantum circuit is just the beginning. Take the next step with the&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/iit-delhi\/quantum-computing\"><strong>Certification in Applied Quantum Computing &amp; AI by CEP, IIT Delhi<\/strong><\/a> ,a structured, hands-on programme covering quantum computing, Qiskit, quantum algorithms, optimisation, AI\/ML, cybersecurity, and real quantum systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Build deeper quantum skills. Work on real applications. Create portfolio-ready projects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to Go Next with Qiskit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Treat everything above as programming practice and a genuine CV talking point not, on its own, a career pivot. [Internal link: Quantum Computing Jobs] covers the honest picture of what quantum roles actually require right now, and it&#8217;s worth reading before assuming this tutorial is step one of a job path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Practical next steps that build directly on what you just did:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Learn the common gates properly\u00a0 [Internal link: Quantum Gates Explained]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work through <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/learning\/\">IBM Quantum Learning<\/a>, the official replacement for the retired Textbook<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Try a real algorithm next\u00a0 [Internal link: Grover&#8217;s Algorithm] builds directly on the circuit patterns used here<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explore the Qiskit community and <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/Qiskit\/qiskit\">source code on GitHub<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394890245\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Is the Qiskit Textbook still available?<\/strong> <br><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">No. IBM retired the official Qiskit Textbook in 2023 due to deprecated code and unmaintained notebooks. <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/learning\/\">IBM Quantum Learning<\/a> is the current official replacement, and this tutorial covers the same starting ground with code tested on today&#8217;s Qiskit version.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394899490\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Do I need to buy anything to learn Qiskit?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">No. Qiskit is free and open source, and IBM&#8217;s Open Plan gives you free access to real quantum hardware. If you were expecting a physical textbook to purchase, there isn&#8217;t one \u2014 see the section above.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394914428\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>How do I install Qiskit?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Create a virtual environment, then run pip install qiskit[all] followed by pip install qiskit-ibm-runtime. Confirm the install worked by printing qiskit.__version__ \u2014 you should see 2.5.x or later.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394929730\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Can I run Qiskit without installing anything?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes. <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/composer\">IBM Quantum Composer<\/a> is a browser-based, drag-and-drop circuit builder that requires no local setup at all.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394948143\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Why does my real quantum computer result look different from the simulator?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Real qubits are affected by heat, interference, and decoherence, plus small errors in every gate operation. Expect a noisier spread of results than a clean simulator run , this is normal, not a bug in your code.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394972247\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>How long do I have to wait to run a job on real IBM hardware?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">It varies by demand and can&#8217;t be predicted precisely anywhere from a couple of minutes to considerably longer. Your job simply waits in a shared queue; there&#8217;s no need to keep your notebook open while it does.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1789394992906\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Is Qiskit free to use on real quantum computers?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes, up to a limit. As of March 2026, IBM&#8217;s Open Plan includes 10 minutes of real QPU runtime every 28 days at no cost, with an optional one-time bump to 180 minutes\/year for active users. Check <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/docs\/en\/guides\/plans-overview\">IBM&#8217;s current plans page<\/a> for the latest terms.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Qiskit? Qiskit is IBM&#8217;s free, open-source Python toolkit for building quantum circuits and running them on simulators or on IBM&#8217;s real quantum computers. You don&#8217;t need a physics degree or a lab , just Python and a browser. If you want the deeper mechanics of qubits, superposition, and phase before diving into code, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,57],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quantum-computing","tag-qiskit-tutorial","tag-quantum-computing"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"acf":{"reviewed_by":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Qiskit Tutorial: Run Your First Program on IBM Quantum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn Qiskit with a step-by-step tutorial to write, run, and test your first quantum program on a real IBM Quantum computer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Qiskit Tutorial: Run Your First Program on IBM Quantum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn Qiskit with a step-by-step tutorial to write, run, and test your first quantum program on a real IBM Quantum computer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Varsity Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-14T14:14:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-14T14:14:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1010\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"673\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b5db9a94eddee529cd35968692d9c29\"},\"headline\":\"Qiskit Tutorial: Write and Run Your First Program on a Real IBM Quantum Computer\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-14T14:14:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-14T14:14:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2389,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"qiskit tutorial\",\"quantum computing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Quantum Computing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"FAQPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/\",\"name\":\"Qiskit Tutorial: Run Your First Program on IBM Quantum\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-14T14:14:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-14T14:14:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn Qiskit with a step-by-step tutorial to write, run, and test your first quantum program on a real IBM Quantum computer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"mainEntity\":[{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394890245\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394899490\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394914428\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394929730\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394948143\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394972247\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394992906\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp\",\"width\":1010,\"height\":673,\"caption\":\"qiskit tutorial\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Qiskit Tutorial: Write and Run Your First Program on a Real IBM Quantum Computer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Varsity Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Varsity Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/varsity-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/varsity-logo.png\",\"width\":275,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Varsity Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/varsity-by-interviewbit\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b5db9a94eddee529cd35968692d9c29\",\"name\":\"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bdb12370d043ff980b2b8f1ccb67f5a1f0e333aaca46cc35358b1af8b1d98334?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bdb12370d043ff980b2b8f1ccb67f5a1f0e333aaca46cc35358b1af8b1d98334?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bdb12370d043ff980b2b8f1ccb67f5a1f0e333aaca46cc35358b1af8b1d98334?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi\"},\"description\":\"Varsity by InterviewBit, in collaboration with CEP IIT Delhi, creates industry-relevant learning programmes designed to help learners build practical, in-demand skills. Through this author profile, we publish articles that complement our courses covering curriculum-aligned topics, foundational concepts, emerging trends, and advanced insights. Our goal is to help learners deepen their understanding beyond the classroom and apply their knowledge confidently in real-world contexts.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/varsity-on-behalf-of-cep-iit-delhi\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394890245\",\"position\":1,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394890245\",\"name\":\"Is the Qiskit Textbook still available?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No. IBM retired the official Qiskit Textbook in 2023 due to deprecated code and unmaintained notebooks. <a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\\\/learning\\\/\\\">IBM Quantum Learning<\\\/a> is the current official replacement, and this tutorial covers the same starting ground with code tested on today's Qiskit version.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394899490\",\"position\":2,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394899490\",\"name\":\"Do I need to buy anything to learn Qiskit?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No. Qiskit is free and open source, and IBM's Open Plan gives you free access to real quantum hardware. If you were expecting a physical textbook to purchase, there isn't one \u2014 see the section above.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394914428\",\"position\":3,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394914428\",\"name\":\"How do I install Qiskit?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Create a virtual environment, then run pip install qiskit[all] followed by pip install qiskit-ibm-runtime. Confirm the install worked by printing qiskit.__version__ \u2014 you should see 2.5.x or later.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394929730\",\"position\":4,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394929730\",\"name\":\"Can I run Qiskit without installing anything?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. <a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\\\/composer\\\">IBM Quantum Composer<\\\/a> is a browser-based, drag-and-drop circuit builder that requires no local setup at all.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394948143\",\"position\":5,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394948143\",\"name\":\"Why does my real quantum computer result look different from the simulator?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Real qubits are affected by heat, interference, and decoherence, plus small errors in every gate operation. Expect a noisier spread of results than a clean simulator run , this is normal, not a bug in your code.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394972247\",\"position\":6,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394972247\",\"name\":\"How long do I have to wait to run a job on real IBM hardware?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It varies by demand and can't be predicted precisely anywhere from a couple of minutes to considerably longer. Your job simply waits in a shared queue; there's no need to keep your notebook open while it does.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394992906\",\"position\":7,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.interviewbit.com\\\/varsity\\\/blog\\\/qiskit-tutorial\\\/#faq-question-1789394992906\",\"name\":\"Is Qiskit free to use on real quantum computers?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, up to a limit. As of March 2026, IBM's Open Plan includes 10 minutes of real QPU runtime every 28 days at no cost, with an optional one-time bump to 180 minutes\\\/year for active users. Check <a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\\\/docs\\\/en\\\/guides\\\/plans-overview\\\">IBM's current plans page<\\\/a> for the latest terms.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Qiskit Tutorial: Run Your First Program on IBM Quantum","description":"Learn Qiskit with a step-by-step tutorial to write, run, and test your first quantum program on a real IBM Quantum computer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Qiskit Tutorial: Run Your First Program on IBM Quantum","og_description":"Learn Qiskit with a step-by-step tutorial to write, run, and test your first quantum program on a real IBM Quantum computer.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/","og_site_name":"Varsity Blog","article_published_time":"2026-09-14T14:14:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-14T14:14:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1010,"height":673,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/"},"author":{"name":"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7b5db9a94eddee529cd35968692d9c29"},"headline":"Qiskit Tutorial: Write and Run Your First Program on a Real IBM Quantum Computer","datePublished":"2026-09-14T14:14:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-14T14:14:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/"},"wordCount":2389,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp","keywords":["qiskit tutorial","quantum computing"],"articleSection":["Quantum Computing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":["WebPage","FAQPage"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/","url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/","name":"Qiskit Tutorial: Run Your First Program on IBM Quantum","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-14T14:14:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-14T14:14:54+00:00","description":"Learn Qiskit with a step-by-step tutorial to write, run, and test your first quantum program on a real IBM Quantum computer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#breadcrumb"},"mainEntity":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394890245"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394899490"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394914428"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394929730"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394948143"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394972247"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394992906"}],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/varsity_banner-qiskit-tutorial-run-your-first-program-on-ibm-quan-banner1-1789395167.webp","width":1010,"height":673,"caption":"qiskit tutorial"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Qiskit Tutorial: Write and Run Your First Program on a Real IBM Quantum Computer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/","name":"Varsity Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#organization","name":"Varsity Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/varsity-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/varsity-logo.png","width":275,"height":64,"caption":"Varsity Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/varsity-by-interviewbit\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7b5db9a94eddee529cd35968692d9c29","name":"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bdb12370d043ff980b2b8f1ccb67f5a1f0e333aaca46cc35358b1af8b1d98334?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bdb12370d043ff980b2b8f1ccb67f5a1f0e333aaca46cc35358b1af8b1d98334?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bdb12370d043ff980b2b8f1ccb67f5a1f0e333aaca46cc35358b1af8b1d98334?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Varsity on Behalf of CEP IIT Delhi"},"description":"Varsity by InterviewBit, in collaboration with CEP IIT Delhi, creates industry-relevant learning programmes designed to help learners build practical, in-demand skills. Through this author profile, we publish articles that complement our courses covering curriculum-aligned topics, foundational concepts, emerging trends, and advanced insights. Our goal is to help learners deepen their understanding beyond the classroom and apply their knowledge confidently in real-world contexts.","url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/author\/varsity-on-behalf-of-cep-iit-delhi\/"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394890245","position":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394890245","name":"Is the Qiskit Textbook still available?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. IBM retired the official Qiskit Textbook in 2023 due to deprecated code and unmaintained notebooks. <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/learning\/\">IBM Quantum Learning<\/a> is the current official replacement, and this tutorial covers the same starting ground with code tested on today's Qiskit version.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394899490","position":2,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394899490","name":"Do I need to buy anything to learn Qiskit?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. Qiskit is free and open source, and IBM's Open Plan gives you free access to real quantum hardware. If you were expecting a physical textbook to purchase, there isn't one \u2014 see the section above.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394914428","position":3,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394914428","name":"How do I install Qiskit?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Create a virtual environment, then run pip install qiskit[all] followed by pip install qiskit-ibm-runtime. Confirm the install worked by printing qiskit.__version__ \u2014 you should see 2.5.x or later.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394929730","position":4,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394929730","name":"Can I run Qiskit without installing anything?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/composer\">IBM Quantum Composer<\/a> is a browser-based, drag-and-drop circuit builder that requires no local setup at all.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394948143","position":5,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394948143","name":"Why does my real quantum computer result look different from the simulator?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Real qubits are affected by heat, interference, and decoherence, plus small errors in every gate operation. Expect a noisier spread of results than a clean simulator run , this is normal, not a bug in your code.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394972247","position":6,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394972247","name":"How long do I have to wait to run a job on real IBM hardware?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It varies by demand and can't be predicted precisely anywhere from a couple of minutes to considerably longer. Your job simply waits in a shared queue; there's no need to keep your notebook open while it does.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394992906","position":7,"url":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/qiskit-tutorial\/#faq-question-1789394992906","name":"Is Qiskit free to use on real quantum computers?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, up to a limit. As of March 2026, IBM's Open Plan includes 10 minutes of real QPU runtime every 28 days at no cost, with an optional one-time bump to 180 minutes\/year for active users. Check <a href=\"https:\/\/quantum.cloud.ibm.com\/docs\/en\/guides\/plans-overview\">IBM's current plans page<\/a> for the latest terms.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.interviewbit.com\/varsity\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}