Consulting can pay a lot more (for a typical engineer) but it really is a different job from either of those.

what do you mean by consulting? things like SAP?

It's a good question, and to be fair there is a broad range of things that go on under that label.

I would draw the distinction between freelancing and consulting this way: you are freelancing if you directly or indirectly (e.g. through a body shop consulting agency) are providing variable bandwidth for a client. So they could probably do the work themselves but need more horsepower. By comparison consulting would be where they bring you in to provide insight, experience, or skills they do not possess.

The lines are somewhat blurry.

not the earlier parent, but ... I read it to mean self-employed. I 'consult', although probably at least 60% of the time it's just ... code/development. But with the experience I have, some clients engage me to be more than a pair of hands, and there can be 'consultative' engagements: helping develop plans, strategic guidance, etc.

But it can also mean working for a larger agency, focusing on specific areas (of technology, or industry, etc). To me 'consulting' has some connotation with 'deep expertise' in one or more fields.

Yes, there is a lot of variance in consulting. It also often involves a lot of travel, which I personally really hate.

I was the opposite, I loved the doors to travel consulting opened up. I could go on a trip wherever I wanted every weekend (after spending the week with the client) and sometimes actually did. It's actually one of the parts of my life I miss most since the pandemic, but alas it is a first world problem and I have it much better than most.

Tends to be much easier on single folks. Good friend of mine and I worked at the same place for a while, and he moved in to a consultant role, doing a lot of 'on-site' work with clients. Initial review, few days working with team toward goals, writing up reports, etc. He did like the pace - rarely worked on the same gig for more than a few weeks max - but travel really started to wear on him, typically around 80% travel. Definitely takes a toll on family life.

It was the travel that killed it for me. I loved the work, especially the metal distance you can maintain from your clients. But the constant travel was draining.

I have no idea why you were downvoted.

Consulting often involves traveling and that's not fun for everyone.