Using SQL Server Express in production website

Question

Can SQL Server Express be used in a production ASP.Net Core website? I assume not. Is there a relatively simple way to do it?

I have a website I use only locally and only for myself and for educational purposes, so it is not really production. I have created a simple ASP.Net Core CRUD appliaiton. It works great using a debug build. When I publish it to my website, it cannot find SQL Server.

I know I have at least the following options.

• Use a debug build for my website
• Install the developer's version of SQL Server
• Use a different DB, such as SQLIte

I just want to confirm that there is not an easy way to use SQL Server Express for this before I switch to an alternative such as the preceding.