Software developers work on the systems behind the interface: business logic, APIs, data models, integrations with third-party services, and the automation that removes manual work.
This is the work that is hardest to judge from the outside, because most of it is invisible when it is going well. The useful signal is not the technology list — it is whether the person can explain a system they built, what they would change about it, and how they handled the part that went wrong.
Projects here are usually either an integration (make these two systems talk), an automation (stop a person doing this by hand), or a rebuild (this works but cannot grow). Naming which one you have makes every conversation shorter.
A short checklist that makes the quotes you receive comparable and the work easier to run.
Should I hire hourly or for a fixed price? Fixed price suits work with a firm, well-understood scope. Hourly suits discovery, integrations against systems nobody has documented, and ongoing maintenance. Many freelancers here will quote a fixed price for a small first piece and move to hourly once the shape of the work is clear.
Who owns the code? Whatever you agree in writing before work starts. Put ownership, licensing of any reusable components, and repository access into the agreement rather than assuming a default.
Can one freelancer handle a whole system? For small and mid-sized systems, frequently. Beyond that, look for someone who is honest about the parts they would bring in help for — several freelancers on the platform work as part of a team.
Post the project and let matching freelancers come to you, or approach someone from the list above directly.