I have been going to the Ban Pakard crossing for 7+ years and I will go again this week.
Depending on how many stamps or visa (ed visa, bogus volunteer) you have in your passport it is safer to use an agent.
I only have 3 entry stamps in my current passport but I prefer to just use an agent, and if things don't go smoothly they can get a deal done to fix things.
If you are alone you are basically on your own if something goes wrong.
I recommend you do it on your own if you don't have too many stamps, visas, extensions in your passport.
Please note if you arrive later than 11am it becomes more difficult to find a ride back to Bangkok because most minivan services go back to BKK before 11am.
I was there 3 months ago and arrived too late. I could only find a mini van going to Pattaya so I took it and had to get on another bus to BKK.
There are far fewer mini-vans compared to the pre-covid days. It will bounce back but not yet.