Provided is a display substrate, a drive method thereof and a display apparatus, the display substrate includes: a first drive mode and a second drive mode, the first drive mode has a refresh rate less than that of the second drive mode, wherein the contents displayed on the display substrate include a plurality of display frames, in the first drive mode, the display frames include: a refresh frame and at least one maintain frame; the display substrate includes pixel circuits arranged in an array, the pixel circuits include a data signal line and a first initial signal line; the data signal line provides a first data signal in the maintain frame, the voltage value of the first data signal is constant, and/or the first initial signal line provides a first initial signal in the refresh frame and the maintain frame, the first initial signal is an AC signal.