A cleaner wax leaves a protective film of wax behind. A cleaner polish shines your paint but leaves no layer of protection.
The terms "cleaner" "polish" "sealant" and "glaze" are not at all consistent from manufacturer to manufacturer. Mother's pre-wax cleaner polish is not at all the same as Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner/Polish.
For Meguiar's prep tools, "cleaner" is stronger than "polish" is stronger than "glaze". But none of those protect. The protectants are #6, #16, #20, #26, with #6 being a "one step", cleans polishs and protects all in one application. You give up a little of each in exchange for time and ease of use.
DACP is very strong as a detailing tool; I think of it as the last polish before the ones with the word "cut" in the title. Although you can use it by hand, I would never think of doing that personally; it takes at least 5 minutes to break down a 3' square with the PC. And my experience is, you have to work it all the way down, or it leaves swirls of its own.
if you were looking for another product to replace Mother's pre-wax cleaner polish, I'd recommend Meguiar's #9 or 3M Swirl Mark Remover. But, if you're happy with the Mother's, why not keep using it? It is a quality product that works as well as the Meg's or 3M. Switch for variety's sake if you want to (I do it all the time), but you can get great results with the Mother's.
Tom