I've been in my house 17 years. It's paid for. Repairs over that time, including a few new appliances, and tree removal, have been pretty low. If I factor in some upcoming expenses for roofing repair, roofing, new carpeting, deck repairs, it's getting around $80/mo. in today's dollars and could go higher. My homeowner's insurance and property tax over the last year was about $400/mo. So, my monthly cost is about $480/mo. now when including all previous repairs and larger ones that I expect to have within the next year or two.
I checked out the market for house rentals in my area, and it looks like mine could rent for about $1200/mo.
In that respect, it looks a lot better to own, but that's not factoring in the mortgage or opportunity cost, nor for optional home improvements, just the difference that I'm paying monthly now for my paid off home vs. what it would likely cost to rent it.