HSS tools are absolutely fine for home workshops. Tipped tools are really for big high production machines, like taking 5 mm cuts in hard steel. HSS actually gives better finish and precision on smaller-scale machining. Most home lathes won't handle those kinds of cuts anyway.
Depends what you want to machine, if you're working with part hardened steel, stainless, tool steel, titanium etc, then the additional wear and heat resistance of carbide is essential, regardless of the size of machine.
The finish is largely down to how good an edge you can get on the tool, this is easier for mere mortals to achieve with HSS, but using diamond laps or wheels, you can sharpen a carbide tool to give an equivalent surface finish to HSS.
However, you're right to point out that a small machine won't like being given the standard insertable tooling that you'd use on a production machine.
Where the power of the machine is an issue, it is better to use Brazed Carbide which has been sharpened like a HSS tool bit, or choose small inserts with positive/neutral rake and small nose radius to minimise the cutting forces.
On a mill, you have to be mindful of the rigidity which will limit the feed rate, and avoid using overly large carbide endmills or insertable tools which need a higher feed rate and pressure than the machine can accommodate.
I've hard-turned steel at HRc56 successful on a myford super 7 with a small CBN insert, and turned a lot of D2 and S13 steel on the same lathe using insertable carbide tools.
I also hard milled a form cutter from HSS using carbide tooling on a Bridgeport mill, which is one of those tasks which ostensibly can't be done, but was in fact fine (well there were a lot of orange hot chips, but it produced the desired result, and didn't cause catastrophic damage to the tool or mill)
I think OP's machines are probably sufficient to use smaller sizes of insert tooling without too much trouble. Something big like a CCMT2520 would definitely be out, but anything upto 1204 would probably be quite comfortable, and 1608 might be doable in softer materials.
