A new quantum algorithm sharply accelerates density functional theory (DFT) calculations and overcomes limitations in electronic structure modelling. Yuansheng Zhao and colleagues from Quemix Inc, Honda R&D Co, The University of Tokyo, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) and Quantum Materials and Applications Research Centre, present a qubit-efficient encoding scheme alongside a quantum algorithm capable of simultaneously computing all occupied orbitals. Their approach circumvents the computationally expensive process of reading out the electronic density, potentially offering an exponential speedup when applied to the Harris functional and enabling self-consistent DFT calculations without density readout. These findings represent a key step towards realising the full potential of quantum computers for materials science and quantum chemistry. Density-free algorithms unlock scalable quantum simulations via simultaneous orbital computation A reduction in computational cost for Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) calculations has been achieved, demonstrating an order of magnitude improvement by removing the need to read out electronic density. This process previously limited the scalability of quantum simulations. The breakthrough circumvents a fundamental bottleneck, enabling self-consistent DFT calculations that were previously intractable for all but the smallest systems due to exponential scaling with system size. Traditional DFT calculations rely heavily on determining the electron density of a material, a step that becomes increasingly demanding as the number of atoms and electrons increases. The computational cost of obtaining this density scales exponentially with system size, hindering the application of DFT to larger, more complex materials. This new algorithm bypasses this bottleneck by directly calculating the occupied orbitals without explicitly determining the density, significantly reducing the computational burden. The new algorithms, particularly effective with the Harris functional, utilise a qubit-efficient encoding scheme and simultaneous orbital computation to unlock potentially exponential speedups. Copies of wavefunctions further enable self-consistent calculations without electronic density readout, representing an advance in