I love Upwork! Love it. I was new to freelancing when the pandemic hit, but I had to do something to make ends meet. Not only have I met amazing clients and increased my hourly rate over time, but I have payment protection that other sites don't offer. I know I'll get paid for my work. They even have features you can use to filter for like client's payment is "verified" or their rating from previous freelancers out of 5 stars.