In practice this simply doesn’t pan out. There are many many terrible freelancers out there. And without someone technical in-house vetting their work, you’ll have no choice but to judge their based on their output. This is a huge problem.

Software needs to be designed with an understanding of the business needs and goals. You need someone who understands how to keep the software well designed (ie. Easy to debug, update and extend in the future).

Judging solely as a user of the software gives you no insight into whether or not a plate of spaghetti code could be holding behind the scenes.

Good code has two traits: It does the job it was designed to do. It is easy to update and maintain.

Everything else you read online is nonsense. And you need someone trusted inside your company to ensure the second trait is being adhered to.