---
title: Get started with the backend primitives
description: How to use the Qiskit Estimator and Sampler backend primitives.
source: https://eu-de.quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/en/guides/get-started-with-backend-primitives
---

# Get started with the backend primitives

Unlike provider-specific primitives, backend primitives are generic implementations that can be used with an arbitrary
`backend` object, as long as it implements the [`BackendV2`](/docs/api/qiskit/qiskit.providers.BackendV2) interface.  Some providers implement primitives natively.  See the [Qiskit Ecosystem page](https://www.ibm.com/quantum/ecosystem?tag=provider) for details.

## Get started with the Estimator backend primitive

The Estimator primitive can be run with any provider by using the [`qiskit.primitives.BackendEstimatorV2`](/docs/api/qiskit/qiskit.primitives.BackendEstimatorV2) class. However, it offers no measurement or gate error mitigation implementations "out-of-the-box", as backend primitives are designed to run locally in the user's machine.

### Example:

```python
from qiskit.primitives import BackendEstimatorV2
from <some_qiskit_provider> import QiskitProvider

provider = QiskitProvider()
backend = provider.get_backend('backend_name')
estimator = BackendEstimatorV2(backend)
```

## Get started with the Sampler backend primitive

The Sampler primitive can be run with any provider by using [`qiskit.primitives.BackendSamplerV2`](/docs/api/qiskit/qiskit.primitives.BackendSamplerV2). However, it requires a backend that supports the `memory` option.

### Example:

```python
from qiskit.primitives import BackendSamplerV2
from <some_qiskit_provider> import QiskitProvider

provider = QiskitProvider()
backend = provider.get_backend('backend_name')
sampler = BackendSamplerV2(backend)
```

## Next steps

> **Recommendations**
>
> - Review the [`qiskit.primitives.BackendSamplerV2`](/docs/api/qiskit/qiskit.primitives.BackendSamplerV2) API documentation.
> - Review the [`qiskit.primitives.BackendEstimatorV2`](/docs/api/qiskit/qiskit.primitives.BackendEstimatorV2) API documentation.