On 27 September 2026 two counts landed at Compare the Cloud's articles desk, the results of exact-phrase searches run for it against Particle's podcast index for 1 to 29 August 2026 . The phrase "quantum computing" had been said in 1,137 episodes across 704 distinct shows , and "post-quantum" in 231 episodes across 184 shows, in an index of about 87,000 episodes for those 29 days . Dividing 1,137 by 231 gives 4.9 . Compare the Cloud calls that backwards. Post-quantum cryptography is the work quantum computing forces on every organisation that encrypts anything, and a trade that gives the machine 4.9 episodes for every one it gives the migration is talking about the threat and skipping the response, which is this desk's verdict on the August 2026 count .
The ratio measures vocabulary before it measures attention. An episode that discussed the migration as quantum-safe or quantum-resistant was not counted among the 231, so 231 is a floor and 4.9 an upper limit, and the section below on what the count leaves out gives the detail . Read as a pair, 1,137 against 231 is the size of the audience for the machine set against the size of the audience for the work the machine forces on every organisation that encrypts anything .
What is quantum computing in simple terms?
Quantum computing is computing with qubits, units that hold a blend of zero and one at once, so a machine can work some problems in fewer steps than a classical processor. Podcasts said the phrase "quantum computing" in 1,137 episodes between 1 and 29 August 2026 .
Compare the Cloud's most recent archive piece on the subject, UK Quantum Computing Strategy and Enterprise Readiness 2025, was published on 18 December 2025 (Compare the Cloud, 18 December 2025) . It and the two earlier pieces linked further down are the whole of what Compare the Cloud had printed on quantum computing before this page, and none of the three counted how often the subject was being discussed, which is what the August 2026 figures on this page do .
How often is quantum computing mentioned against post-quantum?
Particle's podcast index recorded 1,137 episodes saying "quantum computing" between 1 and 29 August 2026 and 231 saying "post-quantum", which Compare the Cloud divides to 4.9 . The index held about 87,000 episodes for those 29 days, so quantum computing appeared in roughly 1.3% of them and post-quantum in roughly 0.27%, by Compare the Cloud's arithmetic .
Podcast episodes naming each phrase, 1 to 29 August 2026
Podcast episodes naming each phrase, 1 to 29 August 2026
View the data
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| quantum computing | 1,137 |
| post-quantum | 231 |
The show counts run the same way. "Quantum computing" was said on 704 distinct shows and "post-quantum" on 184 between 1 and 29 August 2026, a ratio Compare the Cloud puts at 3.8 (704 divided by 184) . Both searches ran against the same index of about 87,000 episodes, so the two counts share a base and a date range . Each is one month's reach, and the page doesn't read them as a trend in either direction .
What the count leaves out
The searches matched the exact phrases "quantum computing" and "post-quantum" and nothing else, across about 87,000 episodes dated 1 to 29 August 2026 . Compare the Cloud did not query the index for quantum-safe or quantum-resistant, so the page makes no estimate of how many episodes used those terms and treats 231 as the lowest the migration count can be, as at 27 September 2026 .
The pair still separates the two subjects. Shows that said "quantum computing" averaged 1.6 episodes each over the 29 days (1,137 divided by 704), and shows that said "post-quantum" averaged 1.3 (231 divided by 184), so a show that picked up the machine was more likely to return to it within the month than a show that picked up the migration . Both averages are Compare the Cloud's arithmetic on Particle's counts, and both describe one month with no information about growth .
What is post-quantum cryptography?
Post-quantum cryptography is the migration quantum computing forces on every organisation that encrypts anything, replacing the public-key schemes a quantum computer can break. Podcasts said the exact phrase "post-quantum" in 231 episodes across 184 shows between 1 and 29 August 2026, against 1,137 episodes for "quantum computing" (Particle podcast index, August 2026) .
Why is quantum computing a threat to encryption?
Quantum computing threatens data encrypted under public-key schemes a quantum computer can break, so anything that must stay private after those schemes fail is exposed. In August 2026 the trade's podcasts gave the machine 1,137 episodes and the migration 231, a ratio of 4.9, so the response is discussed less than the threat (Particle podcast index, August 2026) .
What has Compare the Cloud published on quantum computing?
Compare the Cloud published three dated pieces on quantum computing between 23 December 2024 and 18 December 2025, a span of 360 days by its own count . The earliest is Generative AI Unlocking Quantum Computing Data Potential on 23 December 2024 , and the latest UK Quantum Computing Strategy and Enterprise Readiness 2025 on 18 December 2025 .
In between, on 07 February 2025, the opinion desk examined AWS Braket, the quantum computing service that is the one worked example in the archive (Compare the Cloud, 07 February 2025) . None of the three counted how often the subject was being discussed, and no count of UK organisations running a workload on a quantum computing service was in the pack for this page on 27 September 2026, so the August 2026 podcast figures above are the first such measurement Compare the Cloud has printed .
What should a UK IT director do with the number?
The risk quantum computing puts to a UK IT director is data encrypted today under public-key schemes a quantum computer can break, and the August 2026 count, 231 episodes against 1,137, suggests the trade's own conversation won't raise it for you . Ask every supplier holding your encrypted data which of it must stay private once those schemes fail.
At 29 August 2026 the CTC Directory listed 20,204 live, searchable suppliers and 79 verified suppliers (CTC Directory, August 2026) . The compilation held no quantum computing category count for the directory, so 20,204 is the size of the supplier field the question goes to, and this page attaches no quantum figure to it .
Method
Compare the Cloud's articles desk compiled this page on 27 September 2026 from the facts supplied to it that day, and fetched nothing from the web to fill a gap . The Particle figures come from two exact-phrase searches, "quantum computing" and "post-quantum", run for Compare the Cloud across about 87,000 podcast episodes dated 1 to 29 August 2026, with each episode counted once per phrase and each show counted once per phrase (Particle podcast index, August 2026) . Because the index has no public URL, the phrase, the date range, the index size and the count are printed with each figure . The derived figures, the ratios 4.9 and 3.8, the per-show averages 1.6 and 1.3, the index shares of roughly 1.3% and 0.27%, and the 360-day archive span, are Compare the Cloud's arithmetic on the counts and dates above, shown with their inputs where they appear . Three archive dates, 23 December 2024, 07 February 2025 and 18 December 2025, are taken from the pages linked in the Sources block .
Sources
- Particle podcast index, August 2026. Two exact-phrase searches, "quantum computing" and "post-quantum", across about 87,000 episodes dated 1 to 29 August 2026, run for Compare the Cloud. No public URL; the phrase, date range, index size and count for each figure are printed in full above.
- Compare the Cloud, 18 December 2025. UK Quantum Computing Strategy and Enterprise Readiness 2025. https://www.comparethecloud.net/articles/uk-quantum-computing-strategy-enterprise-readiness-2025
- Compare the Cloud, 23 December 2024. Generative AI Unlocking Quantum Computing Data Potential. https://www.comparethecloud.net/opinions/generative-ai-unlocking-quantum-computing-data-potential
- Compare the Cloud, 07 February 2025. AWS Braket Unlocks Quantum Computing. https://www.comparethecloud.net/opinions/aws-unlocks-quantum-computing
- CTC Directory, August 2026. Live, searchable and verified supplier counts at 29 August 2026. https://www.comparethecloud.net/directory
