A method for characterizing noise in a quantum system, the quantum system including a plurality of qubits and a plurality of entangling gates native to the quantum system, includes generating a random quantum circuit on a quantum processor, the random quantum circuit comprising the plurality of entangling gates native to the quantum system. The method includes running a simulation of the random quantum circuit on a classical computer a plurality of times to obtain ideal outcomes, and running the random quantum circuit on the quantum processor a plurality of times to obtain experimental outcomes. The method includes grouping the experimental outcomes based on probabilities of the ideal outcomes to obtain a first distribution, and grouping the experimental outcomes based on probabilities of the experimental outcomes to obtain a second distribution. The method includes characterizing noise in the quantum system based on the first distribution and the second distribution.