Aren’t static IPs now excluded from the GCP free tier?

https://github.com/rajannpatel/Pi-Hole-PiVPN-on-Google-Compu...

(I run OpenVPN and PiHole from a GCP micro instance)

Not quite yet. But also like another user said, DuckDNS

"Note: Starting January 1st, 2020, GCP will charge for VM instance external IP addresses. However, under the Free Tier, in-use external IP addresses will be free until you have used a number of hours equal to the total hours in the current month. Free Tier for in-use external IP addresses apply to all instance types (not just f1.micro instances)."

A VPN server doesn't strictly need a static IP, you can use dynamic DNS.

Can you explain, or provide a link?

I’m a networking novice, but in my .ovpn profiles I provide, the IP is hard-coded.

Instead of an IP, you can use a domain. Then you can use Dynamic DNS to keep that domain pointed at your current IP (essentially, you run a small program on the same computer as the VPN server, that updates the DNS provider every time the IP changes).

Isn't there a 1 GB limit on network traffic though?

That's true, I forget about that bc I use it so sparingly

"1 GB network egress from North America to all region destinations per month (excluding China and Australia)"