Young Talent and New Platforms Drive Quantum Open Source Community in 2025

The Unitary Foundation has released the results of its 2025 Quantum Open Source Software Survey, marking the fourth year of the initiative to capture trends and priorities within the quantum development community. This year’s findings highlight a surge in young professionals, with more than half of respondents under 30, and a growing number of hobbyists actively participating alongside researchers and educators.

Major shifts were seen in participation, with a notable increase in contributions from classical software professionals and independent developers. Yet, nearly 40% of active contributors remain unpaid, indicating a strong sense of passion and commitment driving the ecosystem.

Software trends reveal rising interest in smaller packages like OpenQ, Yao.jl, and the Unitary Compiler Collection. Quantum Error Correction software received its own focus this year, with community members split evenly between current users and those eager to adopt the technology.

Research priorities continue to center on algorithms, applications, and infrastructure compilation. Interest in hardware development and error mitigation has somewhat declined, while programming language enthusiasm is currently highest for Rust.

Community sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with nearly 95% reporting a good experience. Video resources now surpass hackathons for learning and engagement, and calls for more structured educational opportunities and inclusive mentorship are prominent. Project documentation and readable source code remain vital for developers, underscoring the value of robust open source practices.

Source: Unitary Foundation, 2025 Quantum Open Source Software Survey Results