You have to legally start a company. That means some legal work (you don't need a lawyer, but it helps). You need to do the books yourself - and because this is very different areas of tax law you really should hire an accountant (only an hour/month, but having extra eyes look at the books is useful). If you do this right you make more money, but there are problems if you miss some legal detail that W-2 employees don't have.

Many times you cannot get called as a 1099 as some places won't work with you. however most of the big consulting companies have others working for them on a 1099 and will be happy to deal with you. However the amount they pay you doesn't change so you have to really understand how to make tax law work for you to make it worth out. (perhaps you can give yourself a 401k with a match - check with the lawyers/accountants above to see if that is legal and if so what the rules are. If not there are other loopholes that work similar)

As I understood it, you're also on the hook for valuing yourself properly. You may think you're making more money, until you factor in vacations and medical and retirement and slack time and...and...and

In the United States you can create a company just by operating as one — “sole proprietorship.” A 1099 can also be issued to an individual.

It’s useful for a variety of reasons to have an LLC or an S-corp but you don’t need one to get started as a software contractor.

dang wont let u see this

but that's a good way to set sued as an individual

if ur serious, have multiple clients, can't guarantee u won't piss off a client somehow... get an LLC

The easiest way is to reach out to consulting companies and ask if they take subcontractors. Second easiest is to ask companies that want to hire you if they’ll take you as a contractor instead.