Systems and methods are disclosed for benchmarking a set of quantum gates using a universal randomized benchmarking (URB) framework. This framework supports benchmarking of gate sets that lack a group structure, enabling new benchmarking schemes beyond group-based and other existing schemes. Benchmarking a set of quantum gates according to the URB framework can include selecting a probability distribution, an implementation map, and a measurement map based on the set of quantum gates. When the probability distribution, implementation map, and measurement map possess certain properties, the probability of correctly measuring a final state, as a function of the length of a sequence of gates applied to the quantum system, can approximate an exponential decay. This exponential decay can be used to determine a benchmark average fidelity for the set of quantum gates.