Real-time collaboration missing in serverless Hoppscotch deployment for low-traffic team workload

Goal: minimize hosting cost for a low-traffic Hoppscotch instance while retaining real-time collaboration for a small team.

Constraints: serverless deployments (Cloudflare Workers, Vercel) reduce idle cost to near-zero but currently lack persistent WebSocket support, disabling live collaboration and real-time sync. Self-hosted VPS ($4–6/month) supports full feature parity when configured with a WebSocket proxy and PostgreSQL, but adds operational overhead.

Uncertainty: whether serverless can be extended with managed WebSocket services (e.g., Pusher, Ably) to restore collaboration without significant cost or complexity, and whether the Hoppscotch CLI headless mode can fully replace a running instance for automated contract testing in CI/CD pipelines.

• Is real-time collaboration fundamentally incompatible with serverless Hoppscotch deployments, or are there documented workarounds using external WebSocket infrastructure?
• For a team of 3–5 users with sporadic usage, does the VPS cost justify the collaboration feature versus accepting async-only workflows?
• Can the Hoppscotch CLI headless mode fully replace a running instance for automated contract testing in CI/CD pipelines?